The application of the thermoelectric (TE) modules can provide extra power in PV cell systems, but the increased thermal resistance leads to an increase in the temperature of the PV cells. In this paper, the phase change materials (PCMs) attached to the back side of the PV cell is used to control the temperature of the PV cells. The PCMs transfers the heat absorbed from the PV cell to the TE modules. A comprehensive experimental study is carried out to investigate the performance of the photovoltaic-thermoelectric hybrid system with PCMs. The outdoor tests are performed to reveal the influence of the cooling methods, the sunlight intensity, and the uniformity of the concentrated light spot on the conversion efficiency of the system. The results indicate that the conversion efficiency of the PV-TE hybrid system with PCMs is 0.56 % more than solo PV cell system due to a decrease of the PV cell temperature and the efficiency contribution of the TE modules. This work investigates the factors that affect the full spectrum utilization of solar energy in PV cell systems.

热电（TE）模块的应用可以在PV电池系统中提供额外的功率，但是增加的热阻会导致PV电池的温度升高。在本文中，附着在PV电池背面的相变材料（PCM）用于控制PV电池的温度。PCM将从PV电池吸收的热量传递到TE模块。进行了全面的实验研究，以研究具有PCM的光伏-热电混合系统的性能。进行了室外测试，以揭示冷却方法，日光强度和集中光斑的均匀性对系统转换效率的影响。结果表明，带PCM的PV-TE混合系统的转换效率为0。由于光伏电池温度的降低和TE模块的效率贡献，光伏电池系统比单独的光伏电池系统高出56％。这项工作调查了影响光伏电池系统中太阳能全光谱利用率的因素。