Conceptual development of a novel photovoltaic thermoelectric system and preliminary economic analysis
Abstract Photovoltaic thermoelectric (PV TE) hybrid system is one typical electrical production based on the solar wide band spectral absorption. However the PV TE system appears to be economically unfeasible owing to the significantly higher cost and lower power output. In order to overcome this disadvantage, a novel PV TE system based on the flat plate micro channel heat pipe was proposed in this paper. The mathematic model was built and the performance under different ambient conditions was analyzed. In addition, the annual performance and the preliminary economic analysis of the new PV TE system was also made to compare to the conventional PV system. The results showed that the new PV TE has a higher electrical output and economic performance.