• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.26 no.6_1
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• pp.1001-1010
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• 2023

To solve the problem that photovoltaic panels can not harvest electrical energy at a cloudy day and night, a floating solar thermoelectric generator (FSTEG, hereafter) is studied. The FSTEG is consisted of a dome shaped Fresnel lens to condense solar energy, a thermoelectric module connected with a heat sink to keep temperature difference, a floating system simulating a wavy ocean and an electrical circuit for energy storage. The dome shaped Fresnel lens was designed to have 29 prisms and its optical performance was evaluated outdoors under natural sunlight. Four thermoelectric modules were electrically connected and its performance was evaluated. The generated energy w as stored in a Li-ion battery by using a DC-DC step-up converter. For the application of ocean environment, the FSTEG was covered by the dome shaped Fresnel lens and sealed to float in a water-filled reservoir. The harvested energy shows a potential and a method that the FSTEG is suitable for the energy generation in the ocean environment.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.589-602
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• 2024

Thermoelectric generator (TEG) generally do not have high heat conversion efficiencies. The performance of a thermoelectric generator module depends on the shape of the legs as well as the properties of the material and the number of legs. In this study, the leg shapes of thermoelectric elements are modeled into various geometric structures such as cylinder and cube shaped to efficiently harvest waste heat, and the electrical characteristics are compared numerically. The temperature gradient and power generation according to the bridge shape are found to be highest at the existing Cube shape. As a result of comparing the power generation using the cooling effect, the Cone shape was the highest in natural convection and the Hourglass shape was highest in forced convection. Research results confirm that geometry can affect the efficiency of thermoelectric generators.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.59 no.10
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• pp.1845-1849
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• 2010

We have proposed and fabricated a Buck-Boost DC to DC Converter for Thermoelectric generator (TEG) with constant output voltage suitable for battery chargers or constant voltage supplies in the range of several watt. The experimental and simulation results have shown that the proposed method allows stable operation with maximum 86% power transfer efficiency. The proposed circuit has a merit in cost and miniaturization of a system compared to conventional MPPT algorithms, because the proposed method adopts only analog circuit without DSP or micro controller unit for calculating peak power point by iterative methods.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1455-1458
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• 2007

In this research, a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) film layer for micro thermoelectric generator (TEG) was fabricated. The fabrication process of the thermoelectric poly-Si film layer is explained. The P-type and N-type poly-Si films were fabricated on a tetra ethoxy silane (TEOS) layer with a supporting Si wafer. Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity were measured, including the transport properties such as the hall coefficient, hall mobility and carrier concentration. The design parameters for a rapid thermal process (RTP) were decided based on the experimental results. The measured power factors of the P-type and N-type were $21.2\;{\mu}Wm^{-1}K^{-2}$ and $26.7\;{\mu}Wm^{-1}K^{-2}$, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.1567-1572
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• 2013

To supply electric power in certain extreme environments such as a spacecraft or in military applications, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator has been highlighted as a useful energy source owing to its high energy density, long lifetime, and high reliability. A radioisotope thermoelectric generator generates electric power by using the heat energy converted from the radioactive energy of a radioisotope. In this study, FE analyses such as radiation shield analysis, heat transfer analysis, and power recovery rate analysis have been carried out to achieve an optimal design for a radioisotope thermoelectric generator using $SrTiO_2$.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2002.07b
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• pp.1332-1334
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• 2002

Thermoelectric generation is the direct energy conversion method from heat th electric power. The conversion method is a very useful utilization of waste energy because of its possibility using a thermal energy below $150^{\circ}C$ This research objective is th establish the thermoelectric technology on a optimum system design method and efficiency, and cost effective thermoelectric element in order to extract the maximum electric power from a wasted hot water. This paper is considered in manufacturing a thermoelectric generator and measuring of electric resistance of module a thermoelectric modules. It was found that the electric resistance of thermoelectric modules was defined as a temperature functions. The relationship between electric resistance and temperature characteristics can be a analogized as function of electric current.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.133-140
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• 2016

Thermoelectric generator, which is known as using Seebeck effect, have been widely applied in many industrial parts, for instance, from submarine to equipments capable of producing hot or cooling water. Its usefulness was verified in terms of producing electric power using temperature difference and vice versa. Application on thermoelectric generator has been mainly forced on exhaust gas of automotive engine so far. In this study, the possibility was investigated whether electric power could be produced by using cooling water in automotive engine. As the result, it showed that electric power had differences depending on shapes of power auxiliary apparatus and, in this experiment, maximum of electric power was 1.5 voltage.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.36-42
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• 2012

본 논문은 고파워 전자소자로부터 에너지를 수확하는 열전생성기의 성능에 pellet의 기학학적 구조가 미치는 영향들을 보고한다. 열경계저항을 포함하는 열전모델을 적용하여, 다양한 경계조건들과 열원의 열율들에 대해 pellet의 높이, pellet의 단면적, thermocouple의 수를 최적화 하고, 이처럼 최적화된 pellet의 기하학적 구조를 갖는 열전생성기의 성능과 일반적인 pellet으로 구성된 열전생성기의 전력생성성능과 효율이 예측되고 비교되어진다. 예측된 결과는 최적화된 pellet으로 구성된 열전생성기가 일반적인 pellet으로 구성된 열전생성기보다 2-10배까지 생성효율이 우수함을 보여준다. 최적화된 pellet으로 구성된 열전생성기와 일반적인 pellet으로 구성된 열전생성기의 열적성능도 예측되고 비교된다.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.220-233
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• 2019

This work aims to study and analyze the various operating modes of universal power converter which is powered by solar and thermoelectric generators. The proposed converter is operated in a DC-DC (buck or boost mode) and DC-AC (single phase) inverter with high efficiency. DC power sources, such as solar photovoltaic (SPV) panels, thermoelectric generators (TEGs), and Li-ion battery, are selected as input to the proposed converter according to the nominal output voltage available/generated by these sources. The mode of selection and output power regulation are achieved via control of the metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) switches in the converter through the modified stepped perturb and observe (MSPO) algorithm. The MSPO duty cycle control algorithm effectively converts the unregulated DC power from the SPV/TEG into regulated DC for storing energy in a Li-ion battery or directly driving a DC load. In this work, the proposed power sources and converter are mathematically modelled using the Scilab-Xcos Simulink tool. The hardware prototype is designed for 200 W rating with a dsPIC30F4011 digital controller. The various output parameters, such as voltage ripple, current ripple, switching losses, and converter efficiency, are analyzed, and the proposed converter with a control circuit operates the converter closely at 97% efficiency.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.11b
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• pp.92-94
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• 2007

This article describes a thermoelectric converter, which is powered by thermoelectric (TE) power modules. This system uses TE devices that directly convert heat energy to electricity to power a converter using direct methanol fuel ceil (DMFC) system. The characteristics of the TE module were tested at different temperatures. A boost BC-DC converter was designed and controlled by a power-supply controller chip. Efficiency of about 80% can be achieved and because the thermoelectric converter system has not moving parts and has a small volume, the system can be carried about easily and conveniently to supply portable electric equipment and this is very important for some mobile equipment.