A new energy and exergy in PV hybridized with TEG at variation of cooling fluid mass flow rate

This study investigates the energy and exergy performance of a hybrid photovoltaic (PV) and thermoelectric generator (TEG) system with variations in fluid mass flow rate (PV-TEG-FMFR). Four Pvspolycrystalline at 50 W were combined with 36 TEGs and tested at three fluid mass flow rates: 0.02 m/s, 0.04 m/s, and 0.08 m/s, respectively, while one PV panel was left unintegrated with TEG. The experimental results indicate that the mass flow rate of the cooling fluid on the cold side of the module significantly affects both the energy efficiency and exergy performance of the system. It was observed that an FMFR of 0.04 m/s provided the best system performance, achieving an optimal energy efficiency of 7.9% and an exergy efficiency of 2.5%. The maximum output power of the PV reached 38.61 Watts at this flow rate. The optimal energy and exergy performance of the PV coincided with the lowest average exergy loss, recorded at an FMFR of 0.04 m/s. Although the lowest exergy loss occurred at 0.02 m/s, measuring 1.26 W/m², the overall exergy loss at 0.04 m/s remained lower than at 0.02 m/s. interestingly, the highest exergy loss was observed at 0.08 m/s, exceeding that of the standalone PV. This suggests that the selection of the cooling fluid flow rate is crucial for optimizing the energy and exergy performance of the hybrid system.