Abstract
The thermoelectric generator (TEG) stands out among many energy harvesters due to its simple structure, small size, rich thermal energy, and the absence of pollution and noise. However, previous studies have rarely probed into the influence of TEG internal resistances on extracting maximum power from TEGs, and the tracking of efficiency is limited. By analyzing the relationship between the tracking efficiency and the TEG internal resistances, a time exponential rate perturbation and observation (P&O) technology is proposed to achieve maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for a wide resistance range of the TEG. Using the time exponential rate P&O, the MPPT circuit observed the power change by comparing the positive-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (PMOS) on-time and perturbs the power by adjusting the negative-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) on-time exponentially. The MPPT circuit was implemented in a 110 nm complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The tracking efficiency maintained a high level from 98.9 to 99.5%. The applicable range of the TEG resistance was from 1 to 12 Ω, which reflects an enhancement of at least 2.2 times.
Highlights
With the flourishing of wearable devices and implantable medical devices, selfpowered applications are preferred in order to avoid regular battery replacement or recharging
By analyzing Equation (7) and Equation (8), we find that if Req is in the range of RTEG /β to βRTEG, the tracking efficiency of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) system will remain higher than ε
The time exponential rate perturbation and observation (P&O) technology is proposed in this work to extract the maximum electrical energy from thermoelectric generator (TEG)
Summary
With the flourishing of wearable devices and implantable medical devices, selfpowered applications are preferred in order to avoid regular battery replacement or recharging. A TEG is composed of a series of thermocouples (TC) sandwiched between two highthermal-conductivity substrates By adopting the time exponential rate P&O, the change rate of the perturbation can be set properly, neither too small to distinguish the power change nor too large to reduce the tracking efficiency for various RTEG. The MPPT circuit achieves an enhanced tracking efficiency for a wide internal resistance range of TEG. The circuit observes and perturbs power according to the power transistor on-time, which simplifies the circuit significantly
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