Simulation and fabrication of thermoelectric generators for hand held electronic gadgets

Abstract

Thermoelectric generators play an important role in energizing the electronic gadgets with improved functionality, which will be an alternative technology for battery-based devices in the near future. This work presents a simple design for the enhanced performance of the thermoelectric generator for such kind of applications. This design is based on dual side power generation from the heat produced by the human body and generated from the gadget, simultaneously. Initially, we simulated the design in COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2 environment to obtain optimum design parameters for fabrication. The fabrication was done using the dispensing planar technology and assembled the thermoelectric generators. The assembled thermoelectric generators of the electronic gadget tested in a laboratory environment. Simulation and fabrication results exhibit that the proposed thermoelectric generator is best suited for electronic devices for converting the heat generated from human palm and electronic gadget, simultaneously and can be easily implemented.