Abstract—A novel hybrid solar system has been designed to
utilize photovoltaic (PV) cells, thermoelectric (TE) modules, and
hot water (HW) through a multilayered building envelope. Water
pipelines are cast within a functionally graded material layer to
serve as a heat sink, allowing heat to be easily transferred into
flowing water through an aluminum-rich surface, while remaining
insulated by a polymer rich bottom. The theoretical energy
conversion efficiency limit of the system has been investigated for
documenting the potential of this hybrid solar panel design. Given
the material properties of each layer, the actual energy conversion
efficiency depends on the solar irradiation, ambient temperature,
and water flow temperature. Compared to the traditional solar
panel, this design can achieve better overall efficiencies with higher
electrical power output and thermal energy utilization. Based on
theoretical conversion efficiency limits, the PV/TE/HW system is
superior to PV/HW and traditional PV systems with 30% higher
output electrical power. However, the advantages of the PV/TE/HW
system are not significant from experimental data due to the low
efficiency of the bulk TE material. Thus, QW/QD TE materials
are highly recommended to enhance the overall efficiency of the
PV/TE/HW design. This design is general and open to new PV and
TE materials with emerging nanotechnology for higher efficiencies