POWER MANAGEMENT OF THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR IN A PARABOLIC DISH SOLAR COLLECTOR

A parabolic dish solar collector is used to producing a medium temperature at the focus of the reflector. A thermoelectric module is attached to the focus plate and the hot and cold junction temperatures are maintained using phase change material on the source side and the forced circulation of water through the sink. The differential temperatures maintained across the thermoelectric module are 120°C, 150°C and 180°C by varying the fluid flow rate through the phase change material. Hence, a maximum power point tracking and voltage regulation are required to harvest the optimum energy. The overall solar to the electrical conversion efficiency of 2.7% is achieved and the salient points of operating TEG modules are discussed in this article.