Additive Technology Driven Integrated Thermoelectric and Photovoltaic Network Modeling

To reduce carbon emissions for sustainable environmental development, professionals are looking for alternate and renewable type energy resources for electricity generation. Photovoltaic-based electricity generation has gained lots of popularity. However, this method suffers from low efficiency and non-availability of solar light at night time and during very cloudy environments. To cope with this situation, this work focuses on the advancement of a thermoelectric generation that does not depend on light intensity. At first, a small thermoelectric generator (TEG) has been modeled using semiconductor material with the help of additive manufacturing. Then several TEGs have been combined to form modules to enhance the power generation capacity. The module is then integrated with a photovoltaic (PV) unit. This integration increases overall efficiency and makes it suitable for a greater span of time.