Fig. 1.

(Left) General operation of a fuel-based μTPV system. It uses a microreactor to catalytically combust propane; the heat is quickly conducted to the photonic crystal emitter at the surface, which selectively emits thermal photons, across a gap, toward a target TPV cell. The raw electrical output is then optimized and regulated by our maximum power-point tracker. (Upper Right) Labeled CAD model of our experimental μTPV system. (Lower Right) Photograph of our experimental μTPV in operation.