Passive Cooling of PV Modules by Thermoelectric Elements

Today, renewable energy sources are used all over the world. Their importance and usefulness is known to everyone. One of the most widely used is solar energy. But there is a problem that significantly reduces their efficiency, it is the high surface temperature of photovoltaic modules. When the surface temperature increases by each degree more than 25 °C, the power of the modules decreases by an average of 0.3 %. The paper considers the possibility of using thermoelectric elements for the design of a passive cooling system for photovoltaic modules. An existing study on the cooling system is given. A modeling of the cooling system was carried out in order to find out the effectiveness of this cooling method. The possible surface temperatures of the photovoltaic module are determined when using a passive cooling system based on thermoelectric elements. The results of the study will assess the feasibility of using such a cooling system in regions with a hot climate and the possible increase in the efficiency of photovoltaic modules.