Electric Power Generation from Thermoelectric Cells Using a Solar Dish Concentrator

In this paper, design details, theoretical analysis, and outcomes of a preliminary experimental investigation on a concentrator thermoelectric generator (CTEG) utilizing solar thermal energy are presented. The designed CTEG system consisted of a parabolic dish collector with an aperture diameter of 1.8 m used to concentrate sunlight onto a copper receiver plate with 260 mm diameter. Four BiTe-based thermoelectric cells (TEC) installed on the receiver plate were used to convert the concentrated solar thermal energy directly into electric energy. A microchannel heat sink was used to remove waste heat from the TEC cold side, and a two-axis tracking system was used to track the sun continuously. Experimental tests were conducted on individual cells and on the overall CTEG system under different heating rates. Under maximum heat flux, a single TEC generator was able to produce 4.9 W for a temperature difference of 109°C, corresponding to 2.9% electrical efficiency. The overall CTEG system was able to produce electric power of up to 5.9 W for a 35°C temperature difference with a hot-side temperature of 68°C. The results of the investigation help to estimate the potential of the CTEG system and show concentrated thermoelectric generation to be one of the potential options for production of electric power from renewable energy sources.

[1]  Gao Min,et al.  “Symbiotic” application of thermoelectric conversion for fluid preheating/power generation , 2002 .

[2]  K. R. Kumar,et al.  Thermal analysis of solar parabolic trough with porous disc receiver , 2009 .

[3]  Soteris A. Kalogirou,et al.  Solar thermal collectors and applications , 2004 .

[4]  Gao Min,et al.  Conversion Efficiency of Thermoelectric Combustion Systems , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion.

[5]  Piotr Markowski,et al.  Planar and three-dimensional thick-film thermoelectric microgenerators , 2008, Microelectron. Reliab..

[6]  D. Rowe.  CRC Handbook of Thermoelectrics , 1995 .

[7]  Leonard D. Jaffe.  Test results on parabolic dish concentrators for solar thermal power systems , 1989 .

[8]  Atiya Hasan,et al.  Review of Solar Thermoelectric Energy Conversion and Analysis of a Two Cover Flat-Plate Solar Collector , 2007 .

[9]  Lan Xiao,et al.  A parabolic dish/AMTEC solar thermal power system and its performance evaluation , 2010 .

[10]  David Michael Rowe,et al.  A high performance solar powered thermoelectric generator , 1981 .

[11]  David Infield,et al.  Design and thermal analysis of a two stage solar concentrator for combined heat and thermoelectric power generation , 2000 .

[12]  Walter Lang,et al.  A thermoelectric converter for energy supply , 1999 .

[13]  Joseph Khedari,et al.  The Potential of Waste Heat Thermoelectric Power Generation From Diesel Cycle and Gas Turbine Cogeneration Plants , 2001 .

[14]  Jincan Chen.  Thermodynamic analysis of a solar‐driven thermoelectric generator , 1996 .

[15]  Takeo S. Saitoh,et al.  Advanced 3-D CPC solar collector for thermal electric system , 2006 .

[16]  Il-Ho Kim,et al.  (Bi,Sb)2(Te,Se)3-based thin film thermoelectric generators , 2000 .