Investigation of the off-diagonal Seebeck effect and Peltier effect on textured YBa2Cu3O7−δ

Thermoelectric modules utilize available temperature differences to generate electricity by the Seebeck effect. The current study investigates the merits of employing thermoelectrics to harvest additional electric energy instead of just cooling concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules by heat sinks (heat extractors). One of the attractive options to convert solar energy into electricity efficiently is to laminate TE modules between CPV modules and heat extractors to form a CPV-TE/thermal hybrid system. In order to perform an accurate estimation of the additional electrical energy harvested, a coupled field model is developed to calculate the electrical performance of TE devices, which incorporates a rigorous interfacial energy balance including the Seebeck effect, the Peltier effect, and Joule heating, and results in better predictions of the conversion capability. Moreover, a 3D multiphysics computational model for the hybrid concentrating PV-TE/thermal (CPV-TE/T) water collector system consisting of a solar concentrator, 10 serially-connected GaAs/Ge PV cells, 300 couples of bismuth telluride TE modules, and a cooling channel with heat-recovery capability, is implemented by using the commercial FE–tool COMSOL™. A conjugate heat transfer model is used, assuming laminar flow through the cooling channel. The performance and efficiencies of the hybrid system are analyzed. As compared with the traditional PV/T system, a comparable thermal efficiency and a higher 8% increase of the electrical efficiency can be observed through the PV-TE hybrid system. Additionally, with the identical convective surface area and cooling flow rate in both configurations, the PV-TE/T hybrid system yields higher PV cell temperatures but more uniform temperature distributions across the cell array, which thus eliminates the current matching problem; however, the higher cell temperatures lower the PV module’s fatigue life, which has become one of the biggest challenges in the PV-TE hybrid system.

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Performance Analysis of a Combination System of Concentrating Photovoltaic/Thermal Collector and Thermoelectric Generators

Journal of Electronic Packaging ◽

10.1115/1.4028060 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 136 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Xinqiang Xu ◽

Siyi Zhou ◽

Mark M. Meyers ◽

Bahgat G. Sammakia ◽

Bruce T. Murray

Keyword(s):

Hybrid System ◽

Seebeck Effect ◽

Electrical Performance ◽

Peltier Effect ◽

Accurate Estimation ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Cooling Channel ◽

Cell Array ◽

Matching Problem ◽

Te Modules

Thermoelectric (TE) modules utilize available temperature differences to generate electricity by the Seebeck effect. The current study investigates the merits of employing thermoelectrics to harvest additional electric energy instead of just cooling concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules by heat sinks (heat extractors). One of the attractive options to convert solar energy into electricity efficiently is to laminate TE modules between CPV modules and heat extractors to form a CPV-TE/thermal (CPV-TE/T) hybrid system. In order to perform an accurate estimation of the additional electrical energy harvested, a coupled-field model is developed to calculate the electrical performance of TE devices, which incorporates a rigorous interfacial energy balance including the Seebeck effect, the Peltier effect, and Joule heating, and results in better predictions of the conversion capability. Moreover, a 3D multiphysics computational model for the HCPV-TE/T water collector system consisting of a solar concentrator, 10 serially connected GaAs/Ge photovoltaic (PV) cells, 300 couples of bismuth telluride TE modules, and a cooling channel with heat-recovery capability, is implemented by using the commercial FE–tool Comsol Multiphysics®. A conjugate heat transfer model is used, assuming laminar flow through the cooling channel. The performance and efficiencies of the hybrid system are analyzed. As compared with the traditional photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system, a comparable thermal efficiency and a higher 8% increase of the electrical efficiency can be observed through the PV-TE hybrid system. Additionally, with the identical convective surface area and cooling flow rate in both configurations, the PV-TE/T hybrid system yields higher PV cell temperatures but more uniform temperature distributions across the cell array, which thus eliminates the current matching problem; however, the higher cell temperatures lower the PV module's fatigue life, which has become one of the biggest challenges in the PV-TE hybrid system.

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A Study on Seebeck Effect and Peltier Effect of Thermoelectric Modules

Journal of Industrial Science and Technology Institute ◽

10.54726/jisti.35.2.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Hyuntae Lee ◽

Bumsoo Yoon ◽

Jinsun Kim ◽

Kibum Kim

Keyword(s):

Seebeck Effect ◽

Peltier Effect ◽

Thermoelectric Modules

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Joule Heat Welding of Thin Platinum and Tungsten Wires and the Thermoelectric Effects Around Bi-Metal Junctions

Journal of Micro and Nano-Manufacturing ◽

10.1115/1.4024082 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Hironori Tohmyoh ◽

Tomochika Tanaka ◽

Masato Fujimori ◽

Masumi Saka

Keyword(s):

Seebeck Effect ◽

Joule Heat ◽

The Other ◽

Peltier Effect ◽

Thermoelectric Effects ◽

Thin Platinum ◽

A Current ◽

And Tungsten

Fine thermoelectric elements were fabricated on electrode chips by welding together the tips of thin 5 μm diameter Pt and W wires by Joule heat welding. The Pt/W junction was heated by bringing it into contact with a wire carrying a current, thus generating a voltage due to the Seebeck effect in the circuit containing the junction. The Pt/W junctions of two thermoelectric elements in separate circuits were brought into contact with each other. Current was supplied to one of the thermoelectric elements, while the temperature was measured using the other element as a thermocouple. The temperature, which is due to the Peltier effect, was found to depend on the direction of current supply.

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