Experimental investigation and scaling of integrated PV-TEG systems for thermal management and electrical power gain

The increase in operating temperature of photovoltaic (PV) panels is one of the most significant factors negatively affecting electrical efficiency. This study experimentally investigates the benefits of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) integrated into a PV panel, both in terms of cooling and additional electricity generation. An SP1848–27145 TEG module integrated into a 70 mm × 100 mm mini PV panel was tested under constant irradiance of 1000 W/m². At steady-state conditions (20th minute), the PV surface temperature reached 57.8 ± 1.0 °C, while a temperature difference of 9.4 ± 1.4 °C was established between the hot and cold sides of the TEG. This temperature difference generated a short-circuit current of 27.0 mA and an open-circuit voltage of 184.6 mV from the TEG module, providing an additional electrical power of 1246 ± 62 μW. The PV temperature reduction was quantified as 3.2 °C through validation against the Ross empirical model and published experimental benchmarks for passive panels under comparable conditions. Using the experimental data, the system was scaled to a standard 1 m² PV panel through a first-order methodology with explicitly documented assumptions. According to the scaling analysis, 64 TEG modules integrated into a 1 m² PV panel could generate approximately 0.080 W of additional power and reduce the PV surface temperature by an estimated 1–2 °C, improving PV efficiency by 0.4–0.8%. These results establish an experimentally validated baseline for PV-TEG integration in non-concentrated applications using only commercially available components. The study demonstrates that TEG integration provides simultaneous temperature reduction and additional power generation, while the transparent uncertainty and validation methodology addresses key gaps in the existing literature regarding cooling quantification and scaling reliability.