Incorporating thermoelectric effect into solar energy

Abstract

Our supply of natural resources continues to plummet as the growing global populations reach an all-time high in the 21st century, and with the rise in demand for everything fundamental to human survival and development, for instance, drinking water, land and agriculture. All these fundamental require electricity as a vital part of its production, as electrical power sources have long since been the capital energy source in our world today. Making use of natural fuel to generate electricity is detrimental to the environment as the combustion of fossil fuel gives rise to pollution and in turn global warming. To rectify some of the negative impacts, there is a need for humans to begin exploring various alternative methods of energy production such as wind and solar energy. In this report, the focus will be more towards improving on the energy production using solar panels.

This report aims to describe the process of utilizing the waste heat found on solar panels during photovoltaic electrical generation to generate electrical energy. The project makes use of the Seebeck effect in which temperature difference is used to generate electricity. The Seebeck effect is further investigated to find what the suitable components required is and its configuration to generate electricity. By further including a power management system to this project, the electricity generated can be used to power low power devices.