Research on heat transfer enhancement of solar-driven phase change materials-thermoelectric coupling systems

Phase change materials-thermoelectric generator (PCMs-TEG) coupling system is an effective technology of stable and great power generation. However, the low heat transfer performance of PCMs-TEG limits the thermal energy storage and power generation captivity. In this work, the heat transfer capability of PCMs is improved by embedding copper meshes. The experimental results ensure that the increase of copper meshes can decrease the temperature difference at the two ends of PCMs, and also shortens the temperature equilibrium time. Interestingly, there is a competitive relationship between thermal energy storage and the heat transfer performance, which is actually detrimental to the power generation performance of the PCMs-TEG coupling system. In addition, the reduction of the interface thermal resistance between PCMs and TEG make the power generation performance increase by 41.4 %. Under the cooperation of copper meshes and thermal interface materials, PCMsTEG coupling systems have 656.6 % more electricity than that of the pure TEG system, and generate great environmental benefits by 710178.9 & YEN;/(hm2) under concentrated illumination per day (6 h). The improvement of PCMs-TEG coupling systems is beneficial for accelerating the development of solar-to-efficiency technology.