Generalized formulation for ideal light-powered systems through energy and entropy flow analysis Part 2: Beyond the first-order evaluation under realistic conditions

Abstract: For photosynthetic systems under irradiation not limited to blackbody radiation, this study formulates the ideal efficiency and Boltzmann factor in a general form based on energy-entropy flow analysis, assuming zero entropy generation within the system as the ideal condition. The non-equilibrium contribution between the radiation and system, which increases with the absorption rate and reduces the ideal efficiency, is quantitatively analyzed, first for monochromatic light. Based on these results, a unified formula for the ideal efficiency of a light-powered system with an absorption rate |$\varepsilon$| for non-monochromatic light diluted with a dilution factor d after being emitted by blackbody radiation at temperature T is derived in the most compact form. This formulation is then extended to include cases wherein entropy was discarded from the system via radiation simultaneously with waste heat. This leads to a unified reclassification of several previously proposed ideal efficiencies, such as the Jeter, Spanner, and Petela, as the basis of practical efficiency, based on flow conditions. Furthermore, in this study, previous frameworks on light-powered systems are classified into piston-cylinder (closed photon gas) and flowing radiation (open photon gas) models, demonstrating that the latter better suits microscopic light-powered systems. Finally, two issues related to the ideal efficiency derived from the prior flowing radiation model (Landsberg and Tonge, 1980), often referred to as the Landsberg limit, have been resolved using a simplified mathematical model constructed in this study based on Einstein's absorption and radiation theory. The ideal efficiency obtained is found to be very similar to Carnot efficiency.