With recent advances in low bandgap thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices, further research into the radiant burner and its effect on the performance of TPV systems is particularly needed. The present work investigates various gas fired radiant burner/emitters and the influence of the combustion processes on radiant power and radiant efficiency. The performance tests with the burner/emitters have been conducted in a TPV self powered heater (mini cogenerator). It is shown that the radiant burner performance is affected markedly by the combustion parameters. Care must be taken to diminish the risk of flashback for the surface flame type burner. The maximum radiant power density and radiant efficiency of the burner/emitters have been determined. This is of great interest to TPV generation in gas fired heating appliances. Furthermore, the maximum electric power generated by the GaSb TPV converter is measured under a range of operating conditions for the different burner/emitter configurations. An electric power density of 0.332 W/cm(2) has been achieved. Finally, the cogenerating aspects of the TPV systems are discussed. Crown Copyright (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.