1. Introduction
Solar energy represents a great potential of renewable energy
source in the world. The solar irradiation and the ambient temperature
affect the output power of photovoltaic (PV) system. The
efficiency of solar panels decreases when the temperature of the
solar panels increases [1]. The cooling of solar panels improves its
efficiency.
The application of thermoelectric technology to cool microelectronic
circuits is not new. It has been established for some time
that the technology can be used in cooling, heating and micropower
generation applications, and can offer some distinct advantages
over other technologies. For example, in cooling or
refrigeration, the technology does not require any chlorofluorocarbons
or other fluid that may need to be replaced; can achieve
temperature control to within ±0.1 C; is electrically quiet in
operation; the modules are relatively small in size and weight; and
do not import dust or other particles which may cause an electrical
short circuit [2].
A standard thermoelectric module utilizes the Seebeck, Peltier
and Thomson effects and can operate as a heat pump, providing
heating or cooling of an object connected to one side of the module
if a DC current is applied to the module terminals. Alternatively, a
module can generate a small amount of electrical power if a temperature
difference is maintained between two terminals [2]. Historically,
the motivation for using thermoelectric modules to cool
microelectronic integrated circuits in the computer industry has
been used to increase their clock speed below ambient temperatures,
which can be advantageous in some situations [3,4]. As integrated
circuit power and power density continue to increase, the
computer industry may begin to approach the limit of forced-air
cooled systems and will need to find alternative solutions [3].
Thermoelectric technology has been highlighted as a possible solution
to these problems [5], and there is evidence of ongoing
research into cooling the whole of a microprocessor with a thermoelectric
module, and focus on cooling microprocessor ‘hot spots’
using embedded micro-thermoelectric devices incorporated into
the microprocessor die [6].
Recent research has been investigated for PV cooling system.
Water cooling systems have been studied using water spray [7,8]. In
order to cool the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system, a
thermoelectric module (TEM) system has been developed [9]. In
this late, the authors proved that the combined system TEM/PV can
be operated at a solar panel temperature of 53 C, without loss of
solar panels power. Thus, solar panels were cooling at the temperature
of 10 C, which will improve the efficiency of solar panels.
Simulation software has been used to study the performances of
solar cells using thermoelectric modules which allowed the increase
in the efficiency of solar cell from 6.8% up to 10.92% at 83 C
[10]. Other work has been investigated using thermoelectric