Investigate the maximum power output from solar cells for integration with thermoelectric generator in a hybrid solar energy system

The influence of the temperature on three types of solar cells; polycrystalline, monocrystalline and amorphous silicon, under fixed illumination was measured up to 136oC. The purpose of this study is to investigate the suitability of solar cells to work with thermoelectric generator and heat sink in hybrid system operating under high temperature. Integrating thermoelectric devices with solar cell helps the solar cells to transfer the heat through thermoelectric devices to water rather than rejecting it to the environment as a waste heat. In addition, a temperature difference cross thermoelectric devices between the hot side (solar cells) and the cold side (water circulation) will lead to extra electrical power generation. The experimental results show that the output power of amorphous silicon solar cells does not decrease significantly at elevated temperatures. This indicates that this type of solar cells is more suitable for application in the proposed hybrids solar cell/ thermoelectric systems