Enhanced power extraction from thermoelectric generators considering non-uniform heat distribution

Abstract

In this paper, a technique to enhance the performances of the thermoelectric generator under non-uniform heat distribution is developed. A large area of heat source is needed when the thermoelectric generator is used for high power applications such as powering air conditioners, household appliances, and distributed generation systems. Non-uniform heat distribution is a natural phenomenon in large surface of heat source. A model was developed and was validated with a prototype of thermoelectric panel 80 V, 2 A. Results show very good similarities between the model and the prototype outputs under various operating conditions. The error during the tests for the voltage performances was 6.5%, while the current was 1.1%. A method of maximizing power, i.e., developing a specialized maximum power point tracker (MPPT) along with blocking diodes, is proposed to overcome the effects of non-uniform heat distribution. In a typical condition, the output power dropped by 30% when a non-uniform thermal distribution is imposed to the array. The blocking diode can save power by 15%, and the MPPT expands up to 20% power when adopting this method.