Henry Kolm constructed an elementary TPV system at MIT in 1956. However, Pierre Aigrain is widely cited as the inventor based on lectures he gave at MIT between 1960–1961 which, unlike Kolm's system, led to research and development.
In the 1980s, efficiency reached around 30%.
In 1997 a prototype TPV hybrid car was built, the "Viking 29" (TPV) powered automobile, designed and built by the Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) at Western Washington University.  
In 2022, MIT/NREL announced a device with 41% efficiency. The absorber employed multiple III-V semiconductor layers tuned to absorb variously, ultraviolet, visible, and infrared photons. A gold reflector recycled unabsorbed photons. The device operated at 2400 °C, at which temperature the tungsten emitter reaches maximum brightness.