An Expermental Study of Solar Panel Performance Using Heat Pipe and Thermoelectric Generator

Abstract

Solar energy is the main source of energy that is expected to play a vital role in fulfilling the future global demand for electricity. Design of advanced photovoltaic (PV) system with high electric conversion efficiency is the key for collecting solar energy. A major obstacle hindering useful PV utilization is the deterioration of solar cell efficiency with temperature. In this paper, the performance of solar panel using a micro flat heat pipe (HP) and thermoelectric generator (TEG) is proposed and experimentally investigated. In order to operate HP and TEG at highest possible efficiency, the condensation section of HP is innovatively cooled by utilizing the condensed water inside the evaporator of the air conditioner (which is usually between 5-7 °C). Two different types of silicon panel are used in the study: monocrystalline solar panel and polycrystalline solar panel. The results showed that a reduction in average solar panel temperature up to 25% is obtained. In addition, the produced power was increased by as much as 50% when the solar panel was cooled by the heat pipe. In order to test the performance of the cooling system combined with the solar panel, the feasibility study and cost analysis is carried out using SAM software.