Implementation Approaches of Thermoelectric Generator in Photovoltaic System: A Review

Abstract

Solar energy is one of the viable solutions for global energy demand. To compete with traditional resources, solar cells have to be reliable and cost-effective. This paper reviews the basics of thermoelectric generators (TEGs), including their working principles and main physical properties. TEGs transform heat directly to electricity based on the Seebeck effect, which generates an electric voltage based on the difference in temperature of a material. It presents methods for energy harvesting by using TEGs integrated with photovoltaic (PV) systems and discusses the application and findings of this hybrid model. By converting solar system waste heat or primary heat flow into additional heating, cooling, and electricity, TEGs enhance PV system efficiency. This paper reviews the methods and effects of integrating thermoelectric devices with PV systems, summarizing key findings from previous studies. The paper concludes that the integration of TEGs significantly improves the functionality and efficiency of PV systems, as evidenced by previous studies.   Received: 14 November 2024 | Revised: 27 April 2025 | Accepted: 29 May 2025   Conflicts of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.   Data Availability Statement Data available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.   Author Contribution Statement Oluwasegun Henry Jaiyeob: Conceptualization, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization. Mohammad Karimzadeh Kolamroudi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration. Cemal Kavalcioglu: Validation, Investigation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Çağrı Özkan: Software, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Said EL Khatib: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing.