The Effect of Concentration Ratio and Number of P-N Thermocouples on Photovoltaic-Thermoelectric Hybrid Power Generation System

Abstract

In this paper, a theoretical model has been developed for a concentrated PV module integrated with a thermoelectric module (CPV-TEG) and simulated in MATLAB. The effect of simultaneous variation of concentration ratio of concentrator (C) and number of p-n thermocouples of TEG module (N) on the power output and electrical efficiency of PV module, thermoelectric generator (TEG) module, and the hybrid system on whole has been studied. The variation in the temperature of PV module (TPV) and the temperature difference across the thermoelectric module (∆TTE) due to simultaneous variation in C and N has also been studied. The results illustrate that the power output of PV module (PPV), power output of TEG (PTE), and power output of hybrid system (PHS) achieved maximum value at C = 2N = 127. The maximum temperature and minimum efficiency of PV module was observed at C = 2N = 1. For TEG, maximum temperature difference and minimum efficiency were observed at C = 2N = 1 and C = 1, N = 127, respectively.