Design and fabrication of flexible thermopile for power generation

Abstract

In this study, a flexible thermoelectric power generator has been proposed. The proposed thermoelectric power generator is composed of a polyimide sheet, a Ni-Cu thermopile on a polyimide sheet, and heat sink and heat absorber sheets. The flexible thermoelectric power generator has 60mm-length, 45mm-width and 3mm-height. The flexible thermoelectric power generator may be possible to apply on a free form surface. As a result of characteristic evaluation, Seebeck voltage of 15.4/spl mu/V/K per thermocouple was obtained, and a prospect for practical application was confirmed.