The thermoelectric (TE) module can be used to convert the heat generated by the photovoltaic (PV) cell to electricity, therefore the photovoltaic-thermoelectric hybrid system (PV-TE) has attracted extensive attention. The energy loss caused by the mismatch between the PV current and the TE current is studied. Two different electrical connection methods of the PV-TE system are studied in this paper. The choice of the electrical connection method depends on the temperature variation. When the PV temperature changes with the solar radiation, it is better to use the series-connection to connect the electrodes of the PV-TE system. However, if the PV temperature does not vary with the solar radiation, the parallel connection is a better choice for the PV-TE system. According to these phenomena, it can be known that the PV-TE system without the phase change material must choose the serial connection and the parallel connection is a good choice for the PV-TE system incorporated with the phase change material. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.