Annual performance evaluation of thermoelectric generator-assisted building-integrated photovoltaic system with phase change material

Owing to the economic recession due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, energy-efficient building retrofitting has been considered as an integrated solution to recover the economy and maintain global greenhouse gas reduction. As part of retrofitting existing building-integrated photovoltaic systems during building renovations, this study evaluated the energy generation potential of a thermoelectric generator-assisted buildingintegrated photovoltaic system with a phase change material. The combination of a thermoelectric generator and phase change material with photovoltaic systems results in solar cell temperature reduction and additional electricity output owing to the Seebeck effect, increasing the total generated energy from the system. Simulations of the proposed system were performed using MATLAB R2020a, based on transient energy balance equations. The appropriate melting temperature and thickness of the phase change material were derived to maximize the annual electricity generation of the proposed system from simulations of 12 design days in each month. The proposed system with the selected phase change material conditions exhibited a 1.09% annual increase in generation output and 0.91%, -1.32%, 2.25%, and 3.16% generation improvements from spring to winter, compared with the building-integrated photovoltaic system alone. Theoretically, the proposed system is expected to generate 4.47% more energy by minimizing the thermal resistance of the system and improving thermoelectric generator performance.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the energy generation potential of a thermoelectric generator-assisted building-integrated photovoltaic system with a phase change material, which resulted in solar cell temperature reduction and additional electricity output due to the Seebeck effect, increasing the total generated energy from the system.