[en] A novel model of the irreversible near-field electroluminescent refrigerator (INFER) composed of an emitter and a receiver is proposed, where the heat transfers between the cold and hot sides and the reservoirs are taken into account. Based on the fluctuation electrodynamics, two critical formulas for the cooling power density (CPD) and cooling coefficient of performance (COP) of the INFER are derived. The optimum thermodynamic characteristics of the INFER are studied. Meanwhile, the effects of the vacuum gap on the performance of the INFER are discussed. By making a trade-off between the CPD and the COP, the parametric optimum design rules are presented. The parametric characteristics for homojunction and heterojunction structures are calculated and compared. An optimum design structure is determined. The results obtained here may provide some guidance for optimally designing and actually developing solid-state refrigerators. (paper)