Continuous 24-h power generation: Integrating radiative cooling with photovoltaic-phase change material-thermoelectric system

A photovoltaic-phase change material-thermoelectric (PV-PCM-TE) system, passively cooled with free air convection, often fails to produce continuous output power over 24 h. This makes it less attractive for remote applications. Integrating radiative cooling technology on the cold side of the TEG can ensure a 24-h power supply by the PV-PCM-TE system. This study introduces the first 3D numerical analysis of the PV-PCM-TE system integrated with a radiative cooler (RC). The study shows that the PV-PCM-TE-RC system can operate over a long period with zero or little maintenance as it does not have any moving parts and does not require an active cooling system. The performance of the systems operating in Cairo (Egypt), Istanbul (Turkiye), and Helsinki (Finland) is determined on both summer and winter days. This is to investigate the applicability of the system in different parts of the world. The results show that the PV operating on a summer day in Cairo, Istanbul, and Helsinki generated maximum output powers of 200 mW, 174 mW, and 120 mW, respectively. At night, the TEGs operating in all the cities steadily generated output power with the highest power of 70 mu W generated by the TEG operating in Helsinki. On a winter day, the PV operating in Cairo, Istanbul, and Helsinki generated the maximum output power of 152 mW, 47 mW, and 12 mW, respectively. Similarly, the maximum output powers generated by the TEG operating on a winter day in Cairo, Istanbul, and Helsinki are 44 mu W, 58 mu W, and 4 mu W, respectively.