High-Efficiency Photo-Thermo-Electric System with Waste Heat Utilization and Energy Storage

Abstract

In a photo-thermo-electric system, solar energy is first converted into heat and then into electrical energy, which has attracted much attention. However, the heat of the cold side of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) is generally removed by an aircooling or water-cooling technology without being fully utilized, resulting in a low solar energy utilization efficiency. Here, we designed an integrated system composed of a photo-thermoelectric conversion part and a waste energy collection part. In this system, one carbon foam (CF) doped with PPy and PEG is used as a layer for photothermal conversion and energy storage, and the other CFwhere one side was hydrophobically modifiedis used for the storage of cooling water and the recovery of waste heat. The two CF layers contact the hot and cold sides of TEG, respectively. With the system, solar energy can be converted into heat and then electricity for TEG. On the other hand, waste heat can be utilized for seawater desalination by the process of water evaporation. In addition, the integrated system can work sustainably under intermittent light conditions. With the recovery of waste heat, the solar energy utilization efficiency in this system is greatly increased to as much as 86%.

Unidirectionally Structured Magnetic Phase-Change Composite Based on Carbonized Polyimide/Kevlar Nanofiber Complex Aerogel for Boosting Solar-Thermo-Electric Energy Conversion

“…The developed STEGS in ice water also continuously generated output voltage and current for about 810 s without solar irradiation thanks to the latent heat release by the PEG component within the developed composite. According to the above results, the STEGS developed in this study exhibits higher output voltage and current than most of the other STEGSs reported in the literature at the same irradiation intensity as shown in Figure a ,,− ,− and Table S5 (Supporting Information). These results confirm the superior performance of the developed STEGS in solar-thermal-electric conversion and electricity generation.…”

Boosting Photo-thermo-electric Conversion via a Donor–Acceptor Organic Cocrystal Strategy

“…The first method involves photovoltaic power generation technology that relies on electron–hole pairs. However, the production of photovoltaic devices (especially lead-based photovoltaic devices) can lead to serious environmental pollution. − The second method is photo-thermo-electric conversion technology that utilizes the synergistic program of photothermal conversion and the Seebeck effect. Photothermal materials can convert the full spectrum (from the ultraviolet–visible region to the near-infrared (NIR) region) of sunlight into heat, which is then transformed into electric energy through a solar thermoelectric generator (TEG), − while photovoltaic power generation technology often only absorbs ultraviolet–visible regions of sunlight.…”

A PEDOT:PSS nanocomposite film doped with black phosphorus modified with silver nanoparticles for wearable photothermoelectric generators

“…This effect exploits the remarkable ability of certain materials to generate heat (PT) when exposed to light and to convert this heat into electrical energy (TE). [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] In some instances, the PTE effect is a synergistic combination of both the PT-TE effect and the photoelectric (PE) effect with the TE effect. The PE-TE effect seamlessly merges the conversion of both light (PE) and heat (TE) into electricity.…”