COMSOL 3D Simulation of Heat Distribution in a Simplified Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell - Thermoelectric Generator Hybrid System

Abstract

Renewables are receiving a great deal of attention worldwide. Amongst the photovoltaic solar cells, Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) is a further-looking, ease of manufacture solar cell. When it is exposed to sun light, the accumulated heat has a degradation process. This accumulated heat can be transported because of the temperature gradient and the transported heat can be converted into electricity vie Seebeckeffect. Therefore, the device which converts the accumulated heat to electricity via Seebeck – effect is the Thermoelectric Generator (TEG). In this article, the heat distribution across the structure of a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell – Thermoelectric Generator hybrid system has been simulated using COMSOL Multyphysics Modeling platform in three-dimension in stationary mode. Furthermore, the following simplifications have been taken into consideration in order to conduct the study: (i) between the DSSC and TEG an aluminum sheet is located; (ii) in the built system, the DSSC and the aluminum sheet are considered as a homogenous layer. As a result, because of this, it is only marked with the aluminum sheet; (iii) the heat is accumulated in the aluminum sheet which dissipates 1 mW. The built model for the simulation is a simplified one to make the simulation easier. On the other hand, this work is preliminary results. Thermoelectric module which consists of heat transfer in solids module and electric current module was added to investigate the heat distribution across the system.