Combined solar/thermal (chp) heat and power for residential and industrial buildings

Abstract

A solar powered generator () has thermoelectric elements adjacent to and below solar cells. Concentrated sunlight is provided. A heat sink (), which can be variable in temperature or efficiency, is in contact with the cold junction () of the thermoelectric device (). The thermal resistivity is designed in relation to the energy flux, whereby the thermoelectric device () develops a gradient of several hundred Kelvin. Preferably the solar cell comprises a high band gap energy semi-conductor. The generator () maintains relatively consistent efficiency over a range of cold junction () temperatures. The heat sink () can be a hot water system. High efficiencies are achieved using nanocomposite thermoelectric materials. Evenly but thinly dispersing the thermoelectric segments in a matrix of highly insulating material reduces the amount of material required for the segments without sacrificing performance. A unitary construction of the solar cell and thermoelectric elements provides further advantages.