Enhancing the Performance of Photovoltaic Solar Cells Using a Hybrid Cooling Technique of Thermoelectric Generator and Heat Sink

Abstract This study aims to enhance the performance of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells by employing a hybrid cooling technique involving a thermoelectric generator (TEG) and heat sink. Three configuration modules are investigated both experimentally and numerically: module 01: PV only (PV), module 02: PV with TEG (PV-TEG), and module 03: PV with TEG and heat sink (PV-TEG-HS). These modules have been examined numerically under various weather conditions, including solar radiation, wind speed, and ambient temperature. The experimental and numerical results indicate that as solar radiation increases from 500 W/m2 to 1000 W/m2, the temperature of the PV back sheet and PV solar cell also increases. Specifically, for module PV, module PV-TEG, and module PV-TEG-HS, the temperature increases by 57.3%, 56.1%, and 32% respectively. Additionally, the percentage output power (Pout) of the PV increases with rising solar radiation for the three modules, reaching 60.5%, 62.0%, and 87.39% respectively. Moreover, the percentage Pout of the TEG also increases with the increasing solar radiation for the three modules, with percentages of 0%, 299.25%, and 311.96% respectively. Furthermore, increasing wind speed leads to a decrease in the temperatures of the back sheet and solar cell, while simultaneously increasing the Pout of the PV for all three modules. However, the Pout of the TEG in module PV-TEG-HS decreases. The impact of increasing ambient temperatures on module PV-TEG-HS is relatively small compared to the other modules.