Efficient energy harvesting using thermoelectric module

Abstract

The increase in the energy consumption of any device has led to the concept of energy harvesting (which simply means extracting energy from the environment). In this paper, the environmental waste heat energy is extracted and then converted into electric energy using thermoelectric concept. Depending on the temperature difference between heat obtained from the heat sources and the environment, the conversion is done. Here, the waste heat energy, we are using, is obtained from heat leakages produced by the objects like hot bag, boiling water, electric heat pad, human body, etc., which is converted to charge real-time applications and to run various digital circuits. The ultra-low voltage step-up converter and buck–boost circuit are used for obtaining required potentials for charging and running circuits. This paper gives the information about the thermoelectric effects, concept of TE modules, use of TEC as TEG, and the simulation of electric system design to charge real-time applications.