Engineering Commons^™

Solar-Combined Thermoelectric Power Generation Simulator, Hemanth Mullangi Chenchu, Kazuaki Yazawa, Je-Hyeong Bahk

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Photovoltaic (PV) devices are gaining popularity in harnessing solar energy as a form of sustainable energy source to generate electricity. However, these devices including tandem PV cells are limited to utilizing only high energy photons from the solar spectrum. This curtails their efficiency restricting them from being employed in mega Watts scale power generation. This study develops a software tool that allows engineers to tap into the wasted wavelengths of the spectrum by adding a thermoelectric (TE) module and a bottoming steam turbine cycle thus spreading the use of the spectrum. The tool allows investigating how power output and thus …