Performance evaluation of a photoelectric–thermoelectric cogeneration hybrid system

The current state-of-the art in photovoltaic technology observes that the photoelectric conversion efficiency decreases with increasing material temperature. A proposed solution is to use the thermoelectric effect as a heat pump to manage the excess thermal energy of a photovoltaic cell. Previous investigations into photoelectric–thermoelectric hybrid systems have been either limited to theoretical analyses or experimental set-ups in which external refrigeration pumps are employed or an external heat source – other than photoelectric waste-heat – is used to drive the thermoelectric effect. The present work experimental investigates the viability of converting photoelectric waste-heat into electricity by way of the thermoelectric effect in an effort to better manage a photovoltaic module’s conversion efficiency. To this end, the electrical performance of a photovoltaic module and a thermoelectric module which are thermally in series is reported and discussed.