FEM analysis of novel Fresnel sheet solar concentrating system for TEG

Abstract

The expensive manufacturing process and low efficiency at the high working temperature of photovoltaic cells necessitate the need for an alternate solar energy generation system. In this study, a concentrated solar thermal system that works on the principle of the Seebeck effect has been selected for electical energy conversion. Standard Thermal Electric Generator (TEG) of material Bismuth Telluride is considered for harvesting energy from concentrated solar irradiance. In this research work, a Fresnel sheet concentrator has been used as the concentrating medium due to its low weight and easy installation. The solar simulator experiment is carried out on the Bismuth Telluride TEG module (type TEP1-12656-0.6) to find out its output characteristics curve with respect to irradiance. In this connection, high temperature is maintained at the top of the TEG by using fresnel concentrator and low temperature is maintained at the bottom by utilising the Flow Channel concept. Analysis of the flow channel is done in detail using ANSYS version 15. Results are discussed. Based on this result, the water flow rate has been optimised and it is found that the high temperature at the top of the TEG is not constant due to solar irradient uncertainity. A complete cost analysis is performed and the payback period of the proposed model is found out to be considerably less compared to the conventional solar panel system. Hence, in this manner, the most abundant renewable energy like solar energy is made use efficiently as well as economically, without causing any harm to the environmental well-being.