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Concentrating Solar Thermoelectric Generator Tool

Dao, Tien
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1668637277215571

Abstract Details

2022, MS, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Electrical Engineering.
Solar Thermoelectric (TE) uses thermoelectric modules to absorb radiative energy given off by the sun and convert it into electricity. While its main competition, photovoltaic panels boast an efficiency of around 20%, solar TE panel can only muster around 5-7 % efficiency. This reason along with high material and manufacturing cost has been the cause as to why solar TE has not been extensively explored as an alternative solar energy harvester so far. However, due to the increasing effects of global warming, alternative sources of harnessing energy such as solar TE have been more closely researched. In the past decades, scientists have synthesized new TE materials that have shown great promise in increasing efficiency and power output, surpassing even the properties of Bismuth Telluride-based alloys, which have been widely used for low-temperature TE applications due to having one of the best efficiencies and power output available in the temperature range. This new materials discovery promises a great new technological innovation for the field of thermoelectric for years to come, but there are not many tools currently available that can simulate the effect of harnessing solar radiation using these materials. The Concentrating Solar Thermoelectric Generator Tool developed in the work takes advantage of the ever-developing world of thermoelectric materials by inputting users’ newly developed or already known thermoelectric properties into the simulation. By using the users’ own data, a power output and efficiency can be presented with varying independent variables: the cross-sectional area and thickness of the TE element, solar concentration, and fractional coverage while also taken into consideration the optical parameters and emissivity of the grey surfaces and heat transfer, amongst other data for an ideal optimization of solar TE design. This tool is intended to bridge the gap between the theoretical and experimental by introducing a way that scientists and researchers can simulate known and theoretical materials. We find that the result adequately depicts power output and efficiency in neat and accurate plots with respect to their independent variable. We describe the methodology for the solar TE design optimization in terms of system efficiency and cost. For the latter, we show that strategically reducing the fractional coverage and thickness of TE elements by similar factors can keep the thermal load matching condition satisfied for system efficiency, while significantly reducing the material cost to ultimately achieve a much-reduced cost per power of $0.07/Watt. The link for the solar TE tool can be found at: https://nanohub.org/tools/solarte
Je-Hyeong Bahk, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Tao Li, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Marc Cahay, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Chong Ahn, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
77 p.
Materials Science
thermoelectric; solar thermoelectric; photovoltaic; Power Generation; solar energy; waste heat recovery

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dao, T. (2022). Concentrating Solar Thermoelectric Generator Tool [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1668637277215571

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dao, Tien. Concentrating Solar Thermoelectric Generator Tool. 2022. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1668637277215571.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dao, Tien. "Concentrating Solar Thermoelectric Generator Tool." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1668637277215571

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1668637277215571
90
© 2022, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Concentrating Solar Thermoelectric Generator Tool by Tien Dao is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12