Missions

The candidate's role is to model and characterize a TPV solar system with integrated thermal storage, under real illumination conditions, in order to evaluate its performance and reliability.

Activities

1. Modeling of the TPV solar prototype with integrated storage:
o Development of a TPV conversion model based on existing idealized models, taking into account the real optical and thermal properties of the emitter and cell.
o Combination of the developed TPV conversion models with existing heat transfer models to obtain a complete description of the system's performance during a day/night cycle under real solar illumination.
2. Integration of a TPV module into the existing prototype:
o Adaptation of modules consisting of germanium cells (supplied by IES Madrid) for integration into the existing prototype.
o Instrumentation of the existing prototype to measure heat dissipation and electrical conversion at the TPV cell level.
3. Experimental characterization under real conditions:
o Installation of the modified prototype under a concentrating dish to obtain real illumination conditions.
o Measurement of the system's electrical and thermal performance.
o Evaluation of the system's stability and durability.

Skills

• A Ph.D. in Physics, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering or a related field with a focus on photovoltaics, photonics, heat transfer or renewable energy technologies.
• Proven experience with experimental techniques, including optical, electrical, and thermal characterization methods and/or with numerical tools and techniques for modelling optical, electrical and thermal aspects of STPV devices.
• Prior experience in solar energy research or thermophotovoltaics is highly desirable.

Work Context

The PROMES Laboratory is a world-renowned research facility part of the French National Research Centre (CNRS) focused on advancing solar energy technologies, with particular expertise in the fields of concentrated solar power, thermophotovoltaics, and renewable energy systems. The laboratory is located in two main sites, one in Perpignan and the other in Odeillo.
Located at 1600m elevation in the Pyrenees, at the border between France and Spain, the Odeillo site gathers solar concentration equipment at all scales. Notably, it hosts the largest solar furnace in the world, with megawatt thermal power capacity. These facilities enable reaching extremely high temperatures above 2000oC, with multiple applications including solar thermal energy conversion. These are complemented with characterization equipment dedicated to assessing the optical and structural properties of materials in these extreme temperature environments.

We are currently developing a first prototype to demonstrate solar thermophotovoltaic energy production including high-temperature thermal energy storage. Current topics of particular interest include thermal energy storage in high-temperature phase-change materials (modelling and experiment), strategies to improve heat transfer (radiative, convective and radiative) within the system, or the theoretical assessment of performance limits and optimal configurations for (solar) thermophotovoltaic systems.

The position is located in a sector under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival is authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.