Electrical and Configuration Characterization of Thermoelectric Generator Modules

Abstract

Many electrical appliances and machinery emit wasted heat during their nominal functions. From heavy machinery to laptops and personal desktop computers, a significant amount of heat is dissipated during operation and even more during processing times. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) can convert this waste heat into electricity. In order to be able to harvest energy efficiently, the need to understand the behavior of current existing thermoelectric modules is essential as it is for the implementation or application of a TEG in various scenarios. This paper describes the electrical characteristics of a typical TEG module that has undergone a series of parameter settings using an in-house and cheap solution jig. The jig evaluation was done to understand the configuration and parameters needed for the TEG module to perform at its best during applications. To obtain optimum performance from the TEG module, it is important to address several key points and identify the cause that will affect the module performance. Once the characteristic of the TEG module is analyzed and understood, it allows the design of the integration circuit to be more appropriate. Therefore this will allow a more sustainable and feasible platform of the Wireless Sensor Network when a TEG module is integrated inside the systems. The TEG module that was used in the experiments is from Hi-Z Technology Inc., model HZ-2. Among all of the Hi-Z Technology modules, this model produces the highest possible output with the lowest ∆T.