HYBRID SOLAR AND SOLAR THERMAL DEVICE WITH EMBEDDED FLEXIBLE THIN-FILM BASED THERMOELECTRIC MODULE

摘要

A method includes sputter depositing pairs of N-type and P-type thermoelectric legs electrically in contact with one another on a flexible substrate to form a thin-film based thermoelectric module, and rendering the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module flexible and less than or equal to 100 μm in dimensional thickness based on choices of fabrication processes with respect to layers thereof including the thermoelectric legs. The method also includes directly coupling the flexible thin-film based thermoelectric module to a layer of heat absorber material or a layer of photovoltaic material configured to receive sunlight to form the solar device, and leveraging a temperature difference across a first surface of the flexible thin-film based thermoelectric module directly in contact with the layer of heat absorber material or the layer of photovoltaic material and a second surface away therefrom to generate increased solar thermal power and/or electrical power output through the solar device.