Investigation of i-v and p-v characteristics of thermal electric generator applied on road pavement
Loading...
Date
2019-06
Authors
Nur Farah Nadia Binti Zamri
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
A study on how to improve the I-V and P-V characteristics of the thermoelectric generator (TEG) on road pavement was conducted. Based on the previous research of thermoelectric generator application for the road lighting, the output voltage and power obtained from the TEG system is too low. The aim of this study is to increase the output voltage and power generated by the TEG using the excess heat absorb by the road pavement. An improvement has been done by adding number of TEG and cooling gel in the cooling system. Pavement is exposed under the sun to absorb the heat energy. The maximum temperature difference obtained between the pavement and the cooling system is 19°C. The cooling system consists of aluminium and copper as they has high thermal conductivity. Water is used as a coolant agent to get a minimum temperature in the cooling system. 10 units of TEG are being used and connected in series connection to optimize the value of the output voltage produced. When the TEG is connected to the load, the characteristics of the I-V and P-V can be analysed and the results show that the I-V inversely proportional to each other. The maximum output power produced is 34.1µW compared to previous research which is 4.26µW. As a conclusion, the I-V and P-V characteristics of the TEG have been improved and the maximum power output generated by improving the TEG system also has been identified. This TEG system that is embedded into the road pavement can be used to harvest energy from the heat radiated by the pavement.