Performance enhancement of a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal-thermoelectric (PVT-TE) module using nanofluid-based cooling: Indoor experimental tests and multi-objective optimization

In this study, the performance of a photovoltaic-thermal-thermoelectric (PVT-TE) hybrid module under laboratory conditions is evaluated. The hybrid system consists of three main components of a PV module, a TE module, and a cooling unit. To reduce the surface temperature of the PV module and to increase the performance of the whole system, four distinct cooling fluids including natural airflow, water, nano-silica-water (SiO2-H2O), and nano-silver-water (Ag-H2O) were used. From the indoor test results, the highest production capacity and efficiency were obtained when the Ag-H2O was used. Additionally, the use of water, SiO2-H2O, and Ag-H2O reduced the PV module's surface temperature by 1.77 degrees C, 9.76 degrees C, and 13.17 degrees C, respectively in comparison with the air-based natural flow cooling. The results also indicated that the efficiency values of the system using water, SiO2-H2O, and Ag-H2O are enhanced by 13.09%, 16.17%, 20.68% respectively, compared to the efficiency of the system when the natural airflow is used for cooling. Finally, using the obtained experimental data as the initial population, a multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) was developed to find the most efficient or the Pareto set of solutions for performance optimization. Comparing the optimized and experimental results revealed that for all types of cooling fluids, the hybrid power and efficiency have the potential to be increased while the required time can significantly be decreased.