Power Generation from Thermoelectric Module for Nonlinear Loads

Abstract

AbstractNatural energy resources in the current era are fast depleting owing to the increase in the need for energy for the vast growth in industries and technologies. Means of finding new ways to provide renewable sources of energy are necessary to keep up with this growth. This increasing need for energy has led to the search for new alternative sources of energy. Some of these sources include geothermal energy that can be extracted from the earth or also the waste heat released from vehicles and machines (generally vehicles). A new method that has come up recently is the use of thermoelectric generators. In this case of thermal heat, thermoelectric generator modules can be used to extract the waste heat energy and convert it into useful electrical energy. This electrical energy output from the TEG module will be in DC form. Using an inverter, AC output can be obtained and then used for nonlinear loads. In this, a thermoelectric module is used which produces a voltage output due to two different (a hot and cold side) temperatures. For practical use, a neutral point clamped (NPC) three-level inverter is used along with an LUO converter. This paper aims to generate useful power from waste energy using TEG modules, an LUO converter, and an NPC multilevel inverter. This method can also reduce the bequest toward pollution and can be counted upon to prove an efficient contributor to green energy.KeywordsRenewable sourcesThermoelectric generators (TEGs)Neutral point clamped inverter (NPC)LUO converter