The influence of the bandgap on the photovoltaic‐thermoelectric hybrid system

Abstract

Summary The photovoltaic‐thermoelectric hybrid system (PVTE) is less sensitive to the photon wavelength than the pure PV system. This phenomenon can make the PVTE to be a good method of obtaining electrical energy from solar energy. A challenge of this system is how to distribute the energy in the working process. To solve this problem, this paper establishes a thermodynamic model to study the energy matching mechanism of the hybrid system. The influence of dynamic solar radiation has been considered in the model. The result indicates that the relationship between the PVTE efficiency and the PV bandgap looks like a “reverse U" (rises first and falls later). The impacts of the optical concentration ratio and the TE parameters on the optimal PV bandgap are studied. No matter how these two parameters change, the optimal PV bandgap of the PVTE is around 1.15 eV. It illustrates that the energy match does not depend on the solar radiation and the TE parameters. The effect of the phase change material has also been considered. The melting temperature, mass and heat capacity of the phase change material have been considered in the numerical model. The melting temperature is proved to be important for determining whether it needs to use the phase change material and how much heat should be stored.

Advances and outlook of TE-PCM system: a review

“…They concluded that employing the more efficient TEG, PCM and TIM with excellent thermal properties while loading high water-cooling rate of flow will prompt the concentrated PV-TEG system to generate more electricity. Recently, Zhang et al established a thermodynamic model to study the energy matching mechanism of PV/PCM/TEG system [120]. They found that the relationship between the efficiency of system and the PV cell bandgap looks like a "reverse U" (rises first and falls later) with considering dynamic solar radiation.…”

Output-power equivalence of two- and four-terminal photovoltaic-thermoelectric hybrid tandems

“…Therein, a change in the temperature of the PV part causes a nonlinear tradeoff of output powers in the TE and PV parts, where we want to know how optimized output can be obtained. Until now, numerical simulations for various configurations have been reported, [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] and several experimental reports have indeed demonstrated superior outputs of PVTE hybrid tandems over their original PV outputs. [15][16][17][18][19] PVTE tandems are classified into four-and two-terminal types and the latter is further classified into series and parallel types according to electrical connections (Fig.…”

Recent Developments of Photovoltaic-Thermoelectric Hybrid Power Generation Systems

“…Ayrıca ideal tasarım koşullarında önerilen sistemin referans sisteme göre %4,47 daha fazla enerji üretebileceği bildirilmiştir. PV, PV-TE ve PV-FDM-TE sistemlerin karşılaştırılması Zhang vd.,[64] tarafından incelenmiştir. Önerilen PV-FDM-TE sistemde faz değiştiren malzemenin erime sıcaklığı göz önünde bulundurularak PV bant aralığının etkisi analiz edilmiştir.…”