Parametric analysis of solar energy conversion system using parabolic concentrator and thermopile

Abstract

The present work aims at improving the design of an energy conversion system operating on solar radiation harvesting and converting it into electricity with the help of thermopiles. Here, the major focus is upon the design parameters and overall performance enhancement of the proposed energy conversion systems. The system consists of a parabolic concentrator to focus all the incident radiations available on the aluminium box containing thermopiles. A mathematical model is proposed for this system and different ways of minimising various possible heat losses are discussed. Furthermore, by maximising the heat flux in a thermoelectric generator, arrangement of the integrated system is analysed. The results obtained for the concentrator, thermoelectric generator and overall system efficiencies at varying energy losses and found that as the losses are decreased, efficiencies increased. At the losses around 40% of the total energy received, an overall efficiency as high as 12% with a considerably less bulky system.

KEYWORDS:

• Parabolic concentrator
• thermopiles
• solar constant
• Seebeck effect

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.