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Response of thermoelectric generators to Bi2Te3 and Zn4Sb3 energy harvester materials under variant solar radiation

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  • Mahmoudinezhad, S.
  • Cotfas, P.A.
  • Cotfas, D.T.
  • Rosendahl, L.A.
  • Rezania, A.

Abstract

Some special features like having no moving parts and long lifetime and being highly reliable make thermoelectric generators (TEGs) a proper choice to convert solar energy into electricity. In this work, performance of Bi2Te3 and Zn4Sb3 solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs) are studied under transient condition using both experimental and numerical approaches. Variation of the temperatures of the hot and cold sides of the TEGs, open circuit voltage, short circuit current and maximum power generation to the fluctuation of the solar radiation, simulting semi-cloudy weather, are obtained and discussed. Effect of thermoelectric material properties and geometry of the thermoelectric elements on electrical response and performance of the STEGs is invetigated. Results of the developed numerical model using finite volume method are in good agreement with the experimental data. Performance of the TEG without graphite layer and with the same solar radiation condition is investigated and compared with the TEG with graphite layer. The results show that, applying the graphite layer significantly enhances performance of the STEGs. It is found that using graphite layer enhances the efficiency of the STEG system. Furthermore, for high solar concentrations, Zn4Sb3 based STEG module has better performance compare to the Bi2Te3 based module.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahmoudinezhad, S. & Cotfas, P.A. & Cotfas, D.T. & Rosendahl, L.A. & Rezania, A., 2020. "Response of thermoelectric generators to Bi2Te3 and Zn4Sb3 energy harvester materials under variant solar radiation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 2488-2498.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:146:y:2020:i:c:p:2488-2498
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.080
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    Cited by:

    1. Yousefi, Esmaeil & Nejad, Ali Abbas & Rezania, Alireza, 2022. "Higher power output in thermoelectric generator integrated with phase change material and metal foams under transient boundary condition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    2. Cotfas, D.T. & Enesca, A. & Cotfas, P.A., 2024. "Enhancing the performance of the solar thermoelectric generator in unconcentrated and concentrated light," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    3. Feng, Mengqi & Lv, Song & Deng, Jingcai & Guo, Ying & Wu, Yangyang & Shi, Guoqing & Zhang, Mingming, 2023. "An overview of environmental energy harvesting by thermoelectric generators," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. Sun, Zeyu & Luo, Ding & Wang, Ruochen & Li, Ying & Yan, Yuying & Cheng, Ziming & Chen, Jie, 2022. "Evaluation of energy recovery potential of solar thermoelectric generators using a three-dimensional transient numerical model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    5. Mahmoudinezhad, S. & Cotfas, D.T. & Cotfas, P.A. & Skjølstrup, Enok J.H. & Pedersen, K. & Rosendahl, L. & Rezania, A., 2022. "Experimental investigation on spectrum beam splitting photovoltaic–thermoelectric generator under moderate solar concentrations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PC).
    6. Sajjad Mahmoudinezhad & Petru Adrian Cotfas & Daniel Tudor Cotfas & Enok Johannes Haahr Skjølstrup & Kjeld Pedersen & Lasse Rosendahl & Alireza Rezania, 2021. "An Experimental Study on Transient Response of a Hybrid Thermoelectric–Photovoltaic System with Beam Splitter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Abdelkader Rjafallah & Daniel Tudor Cotfas & Petru Adrian Cotfas, 2022. "Legs Geometry Influence on the Performance of the Thermoelectric Module," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-22, November.

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