In this article, the performance of one dimensional metallic-dielectric photonic crystals (1D MDPCs) filter for improving the performance of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems is studied. The reflectance and absorbance of Ag/SiO2 filters are calculated using the transfer matrix method. The spectral efficiencies and the above-bandgap transmissions of the filters are calculated for different choices of number of periods and layer thicknesses. Furthermore, an optimized stack design that exhibits better spectral efficiencies and better above-bandgap transmission is presented. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.