Open AccessEfficient Thermoelectric Transformation of Daily Thermal Fluctuations into Electricity
Author(s) -
Santiago Madruga
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/701/1/012082
Subject(s) - materials science , thermoelectric effect , phase change material , thermal energy storage , thermal , thermal resistance , thermoelectric generator , thermal energy , aluminium , composite material , electricity , heat transfer , energy storage , thermodynamics , electrical engineering , physics , engineering , power (physics)
We present an enhanced micro-energy harvester design that couples a thermoelectric module to a heat storage unit formed by a Phase Change Material embedded within a metallic foam. The effect of the thermal resistance between the thermoelectric material and the ambient is investigated through an effective heat transfer coefficient. A case study is analyzed to transform daily thermal fluctuations into electricity during a full day on ground conditions in a Southern Hemisphere typical winter day, using hexadecane as PCM and aluminium as metallic foam. For base PCM as a heat storage unit, the micro-harvester generates 0.01 J after a full day of operation. However, the metallic foam multiplies the electric energy production: from 0.23 J for ∈ = 0.95 to 0.49 J for ∈ = 0.85. Importantly, the relative boost in electric energy production is robust across a wide range of thermal resistance loads.