TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of environmental factors on night-time electricity generation using thermoelectric generator
AU - Khan, Shahvaiz
AU - Ahmad Cheema, Taqi
AU - Abbas, Ahmad
AU - Ullah, Rizwan
AU - Woo Park, Cheol
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Nighttime electricity generation (NTEG) using thermoelectric generators (TEGs) and radiative cooling concept is a widely known phenomenon. However, the NTEGs are challenged by low voltage generation. The factors influencing the performance of the NTEGs comprise environmental conditions, such as ambient temperature, wind velocity and relative humidity. However, the effect of these parameters has not been explored. Therefore, the present study aims to experimentally investigate the influence of these variables on the generated power resulting from the temperature difference created between different entities of the NTEG setup by using an in-house designed facility. The experimental setup consisted of multiple TEGs sandwiched between a radiative plate at the top and an aluminium block attached to a hot plate at the bottom. The tests were performed on various nights to analyse the effect of these parameters. The night with a higher ambient temperature triggered higher temperature difference between the top and bottom surface of the TEGs, resulting in the higher voltage production. Moreover, the same trend was observed for the wind velocity. By contrast, the largest temperature gap between an emitter plate and the surrounding air was recorded on a night with the lowest relative humidity, thereby providing a higher voltage. Furthermore, with various series, parallel and series–parallel configurations, we finally found a combination of commercially available TEGs for NTEG, which can be effectively used for lighting up a three-watt bulb.
AB - Nighttime electricity generation (NTEG) using thermoelectric generators (TEGs) and radiative cooling concept is a widely known phenomenon. However, the NTEGs are challenged by low voltage generation. The factors influencing the performance of the NTEGs comprise environmental conditions, such as ambient temperature, wind velocity and relative humidity. However, the effect of these parameters has not been explored. Therefore, the present study aims to experimentally investigate the influence of these variables on the generated power resulting from the temperature difference created between different entities of the NTEG setup by using an in-house designed facility. The experimental setup consisted of multiple TEGs sandwiched between a radiative plate at the top and an aluminium block attached to a hot plate at the bottom. The tests were performed on various nights to analyse the effect of these parameters. The night with a higher ambient temperature triggered higher temperature difference between the top and bottom surface of the TEGs, resulting in the higher voltage production. Moreover, the same trend was observed for the wind velocity. By contrast, the largest temperature gap between an emitter plate and the surrounding air was recorded on a night with the lowest relative humidity, thereby providing a higher voltage. Furthermore, with various series, parallel and series–parallel configurations, we finally found a combination of commercially available TEGs for NTEG, which can be effectively used for lighting up a three-watt bulb.
KW - Energy harvesting
KW - Nighttime electricity generation
KW - Open circuit voltage
KW - Temperature difference
KW - Thermoelectric generators
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85145970079&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.seta.2022.103000
DO - 10.1016/j.seta.2022.103000
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85145970079
SN - 2213-1388
VL - 56
JO - Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
JF - Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
M1 - 103000
ER -