Performance Evaluation of Unconcentrated Photovoltaic-Thermoelectric Generator Hybrid System under Tropical Climate

Indoor farming is among the approaches which can be adapted to improve agricultural sustainability and ensure the food security of countries. However, adopting indoor farming requires a high amount of energy to sustain the system. Incorporating a renewable energy system for supplying power to agricu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2019-11, Vol.11 (22), p.6192
Main Authors: Mohd Shatar, Nursyahirah, Abdul Rahman, Mohd Azizi, Muhtazaruddin, Mohd Nabil, Shaikh Salim, Sheikh Ahmad Zaki, Singh, Baljit, Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus, Bani, Nurul Aini, Mohd Saudi, Ahmad Shakir, Ardila-Rey, Jorge Alfredo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Alternative energy sources
Cadmium telluride
Efficiency
Electricity
Energy resources
Farmers
Farming
Food security
Fossil fuels
Greenhouses
Heat
Light emitting diodes
Lighting
Performance evaluation
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaics
Renewable resources
Solar energy
Sustainability
Sustainable agriculture
Temperature dependence
Temperature gradients
Thermoelectric generators
Thermoelectricity
Weather
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Indoor farming is among the approaches which can be adapted to improve agricultural sustainability and ensure the food security of countries. However, adopting indoor farming requires a high amount of energy to sustain the system. Incorporating a renewable energy system for supplying power to agricultural activities will allow the system to be more sustainable in the long run. An unconcentrated photovoltaic-thermoelectric generator (PV-TEG) hybrid system is designed based on the load requirement of an indoor farm. The hybrid system performance under Malaysia’s weather conditions was investigated and analyzed over three months. The designed system has shown its ability to provide sufficient power to the load, as well as supporting an additional load. Besides that, the TEGs power output was found to be dependent on the temperature as well as the types of connections used, where a higher temperature difference and series connection exhibited a better power output. Overall, the combination of the system showed that the addition of a TEG affects the efficiency and power output as compared to a standalone PV. Therefore, this implies that the hybrid system is able to exhibit a more positive outcome in certain weather conditions than a PV standalone system.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su11226192