Solar Thermoelectric Generators

This book focuses on examining the influence of wind velocity and angle of attack (AOA) on the maximum permissible input heat flux in a solar-assisted thermoelectric generator (TEG) system. Particular attention has been given to maintaining the allowable hot-side temperature of the thermoelectric module at 150 °C during operation. For effective thermal management, a heat sink configuration consisting of twelve cylindrical fins of 100 mm length has been considered. A three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model has been developed using ANSYS Fluent to simulate the thermal and fluid flow behavior of the system. The numerical model has been validated using available experimental results reported in earlier studies. In the simulation setup, four thermoelectric modules are placed between a heated target plate and a finned cooling block within a low-speed wind tunnel environment. The airflow inside the tunnel represents natural wind conditions, while concentrated solar radiation is applied to the target surface through a Fresnel lens arrangement.