Integrated PV-TEG Cooling System and Support

Being continuously exposed to solar radiation, photovoltaic cells usually overheat, resulting in rapid degradation over time. For the same reason, the efficiency of energy production also decreases. To overcome these problems, the proposed integrated TEG cooling system removes heat from the cells during periods of strong solar radiation. In contrast to existing products that use the Seebeck or Peltier effect, within the patented system, the given Seebeck effect occurs internally at the same heat sink that acts as a support for the cells and only a small part of the removed heat is used to create the required temperature difference. The invention concerns a drastic simplification of solar cell cooling and thermoelectric conversion technology. This also allows for cascading economic advantages in terms of overall system costs. A preliminary numerical analysis was carried out to analyse the characteristics of the prototype.