Electrical behavior of a photovoltaic-thermoelectric hybrid system

In this work, we investigate the electrical behavior of a photovoltaic- thermoelectric generator (PV - TEG) hybrid system. Relying on the corresponding equivalent electric circuit of the PV-TEG device, a simple mathematical model is established. The effect of the temperature difference $(\Delta \mathrm{T})$ on the J-V and P-V characteristics of the system is probed. The obtained results show that the PV - TEG coupling increases significantly the maximum power point (MPP), for instance, about 180% increase of power output is recorded compared to that of a sole PV cell when Δ T reaches 25°C.