THE STUDY OF THE THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR DEPENDING ON THE LIGHTING LEVELS

Abstract

Whereas in the 20th century, scientists were concerned with the production of energy in huge quantities, regardless of the consequences, their interest later switched to the production of green energy from renewable sources. Nowadays, the interest has been directed towards increasing the efficiency of existent energy systems and finding other energy sources. A way to achieve these is to harvest energy from sources that generate small amounts of energy, but sufficient to power low-power devices, as well as to valorize residual energy (especially heat) that would otherwise be dissipated and lost. Since thermoelectric generators convert heat into electrical energy based on the Seebeck effect, this paper analyzes the important parameters of the TEC1-12706 thermoelectric generator, such as short circuit current, open circuit voltage, maximum power, and internal resistance in laboratory and natural conditions in function of different levels of irradiance. The performance of the thermoelectric generator is lower in real condition than under artificial light.