The role of thermoelectric generators in the hybrid PV/T systems: A review

The recent developments in the field of Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) made a significant impact on the performance of Photovoltaic (PV) system. Many of the research works convey that the electrical efficiency of the PV panel degrades due to its higher temperature. Recent developments were made in the field of PV made hybrid systems to utilize excess heat in the panel, like Photovoltaic Thermal (PV/T). These systems extract and utilize maximum energy from the solar radiation and convert it into a useful form. The hybrid systems have gained immense attention among the researchers in the field of photovoltaic. This review takes up an initiative to analyze the various hybrid Photovoltaic thermal technologies currently available in literature in order to achieve new insights regarding the excess heat management of PV module. This review majorly concentrates on the overall efficiency constrains of different configurations of PV/T system and performance of TEG integrated PV modules. In this paper different natural (ambient temperature, wind velocity, solar irradiation) and design (glazing, coolant and its flow type, flow rates, thermal resistance) factors and their impact on the performance of different hybrid configurations (PV/T, solar thermal-TEG, and PV-TEG) presented.