Thermoelectric technology has been developed as a substitute for existing refrigerants in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system applications for building decarbonization. A hydraulic thermoelectric radiant cooling panel (hTERCP) operated based on the Peltier effect can alternate a conventional cooling system using a chiller with refrigerators. This study aimed to develop a cooling performance prediction model for a hTERCP-integrated free cooling system according to the desirable range of five design factors. A mockup model of the hTERCP was constructed and tested in an environmental chamber to verify the proposed simulation model. The simulation and the experimental analysis confirmed that the heat rejection performance of the thermoelectric module (TEM) significantly affects the cooling performance of the hTERCP. The cooling water temperature was the primary design factor for releasing heat from the hot side of the TEM and significantly influenced the cooling performance of the hTERCP. A parametric analysis of the five design factors was conducted to investigate a method for improving the coefficient of performance (COP) of the hTERCP. The cooling water temperature affected the COP by 38.6–45.7%, and the heat exchange area of the cooling surface greatly influenced the cooling performance by 41.4%. The cooling water flow rate, heat exchange effectiveness of the water block, and heat resistance of the hot side were confirmed to have relatively little influence as 9.7–10.2%, 11.9–24.8%, and 0.7–11.1%, respectively.

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) are the most promising systems for net-zero energy buildings. However, there are few practical cases because of shortcomings, such as the lack of solar tracking and the rapid rise in PV surface temperature. Therefore, methods of increasing the efficiency of BIPVs have been proposed and studied. These include using phase change material (PCM) or heat fins, wavelength selection, decreasing the PV surface temperature, or using a thermoelectric generator (TEG) and convection cooling to utilize the waste heat from the PV. Many preceding studies have been conducted on TEG and convection heat dissipation methods to utilize as much waste heat as possible. Therefore, in this study, a TEG–PCM hybrid system using mPCM was proposed to improve constructability. Herein, the appropriate phase change temperature of the PCM, the heat fin spacing in the PCM container, and the TEG arrangement were analyzed through computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based simulations. The appropriate melting temperature of the PCM, the heat fin interval, and the arrangement of the TEG for the proposed system are 25 °C, 20 mm, and 140 mm, respectively. In order to achieve optimal efficiency, it is necessary to consider an appropriate amount of heat transfer, and it has been confirmed that if there are too many thermoelectric elements, the opposite effect occurs.