Experimental study of a novel hybrid photovoltaic/thermal and thermoelectric generators system with dual phase change materials

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) cell technology has evolved dramatically since its invention. However, the adverse effects of the rise in the temperature of solar cells on electrical efficiency are still a problem, and the methods to control it are of great interest. Deploying thermoelectric generators (TEG) and phase change materials (PCM) have been scrutinized in recent years. PCMs impede the system from heating up by absorbing thermal energy at the melting temperature. TEGs exploit the temperature gradient in systems and generate electricity. In this experimental investigation, a PV/T-TEG-2PCM with two different PCM materials and metallic heat transfer enhancers; and another setup of PV/T-TEG were assembled, simultaneously examined, and operational parameters were measured. Performance of both systems from thermal and electrical energy and exergy perspectives were compared. Results showed that the proposed PV/T-TEG-2PCM with two PCMs was superior to the PV/T-TEG configuration in every area. The proposed PV/T-TEG-2PCM was able to decrease the average solar cell temperature and increase the TEG temperature gradient up to 89.4% and 1.2%, respectively. The mean electrical energy and total exergy efficiencies of the PV/T-TEG-2PCM system were 8.1% and 9.9% higher than the PV/T-TEG system, respectively.