Study on a high-performance solar thermoelectric system for combined heat and power

In this paper, a high-performance solar thermoelectric system for combined heat and power is developed and investigated. This new system has achieved a higher performance by considering some of the features, including a simplified structure, lower contact thermal resistance, lower convection heat loss, and better heat transfer performance. The mathematical model was built and analyzed. And the models are verified via the experimental prototype test. In addition, the performance of the system under different environmental conditions and operating parameters are evaluated and predicted. The results show that the proposed system can be used for cogeneration of heat water and electric power. And when the solar irradiation is larger than 700 W/m2, and water temperature of 13 °C, the maximum instantaneous electrical power output was found to be 0.659 W at the load resistance 4.2 Ω, and the power generation efficiency of the thermoelectric generator (TEG) is 1.956%, which is close to that of a low temperature organic Rankine cycle system. These results indicate the feasibility of the proposed high-performance solar thermoelectric system and give hints for future improvement of the solar thermoelectric system for combined heat and power.