A thermoelectric generator and water-cooling assisted high conversion efficiency polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic system

Abstract

Solar energy has been increasing its share in the global energy structure. However, the thermal radiation brought by sunlight will attenuate the efficiency of solar cells. To reduce the temperature of the photovoltaic (PV) cell and improve the utilization efficiency of solar energy, a hybrid system composed of the PV cell, a thermoelectric generator (TEG), and a water-cooled plate (WCP) was manufactured. The WCP cannot only cool the PV cell, but also effectively generate additional electric energy with the TEG using the waste heat of the PV cell. The changes in the efficiency and power density of the hybrid system were obtained by real time monitoring. The thermal and electrical tests were performed at different irradiations and the same experiment temperature of 22°C. At a light intensity of 1000 W/m², the steady-state temperature of the PV cell decreases from 86.8°C to 54.1°C, and the overall efficiency increases from 15.6% to 21.1%. At a light intensity of 800 W/m², the steady-state temperature of the PV cell decreases from 70°C to 45.8°C, and the overall efficiency increases from 9.28% to 12.59%. At a light intensity of 400 W/m², the steady-state temperature of the PV cell decreases from 38.5°C to 31.5°C, and the overall efficiency is approximately 3.8%, basically remain unchanged.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

photovoltaic (PV) / thermoelectric generator / conversion efficiency / hybrid energy systems / water-cooled plate (WCP)

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51690161 and 21701022), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. N182505037 and N2025035), the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (Grant No. 2018QNRC001), and the Liaoning Revitalization Talents Program (Grant No. XLYC1807214).Electronic Supplementary MaterialƒSupplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-020-0712-1 and is accessible for authorized users.

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