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Building-integrated photovoltaic-thermal (BIPVT) systems can provide both electrical and thermal energy for building, realizing efficient use of solar power and decreasing the energy consumption of the building. In this study, water-cooled walls were installed on both sides of the air flow channel to improve the heat exchange between the photovoltaic (PV) panels and the air by cooling the air, thus realizing an improvement in the thermal/electrical performance of air-type BIPVT. An experimental system of coupled BIPVTs was conducted to study the influence of cooling water temperature on performance of the system. The results show that a 10 K reduction in cooling water temperature increases the heat efficiency by 26% and the electrical efficiency by approximately 2%. The results can be used for the optimized operation of BIPVT system.

Solar thermoelectric generator based on Seebeck effect can convert solar radiation into electric energy, but the solar radiation intensity is low, the conversion efficiency is low. Using the heat pipe can improve the hot side temperature of the TEG, so as to improve the thermoelectric performance. A flat plate heat pipe assisted thermoelectric generator is constructed (FTEG) in this paper, and experimentally studies the effects of heating power and heat pipe length on the FTEG performance. The results show that with the increase of heating power, the output power and power generation efficiency of the system increase gradually, and with the increase of heat pipe length, the thermoelectric performance decreases. In addition, when the length is less than 500 mm, the performance of the FTEG changes little. In this paper, the results have guiding significance about the design and optimization of solar thermoelectric generator.