非均匀辐照对太阳能热电发电系统性能的影响

Effect of non-uniform illumination on performance of solar thermoelectric generators

Abstract

Solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs) are heat engines which can generate electricity from concentrated sunlight. The non-uniform illumination caused by the optical concentrator may affect the performance of solar thermoelectric generators. In this paper, a three-dimensional finite element model of solar thermoelectric generators is established. The two-dimensional Gaussian distribution is employed to modify the illumination profiles incident on the thermoelectric generator. Six non-uniformities of solar illumination are investigated while keeping the total energy constant. The influences of non-uniform illumination on the temperature distribution, the voltage distribution, and the maximum output power are respectively discussed. Three thermoelectric generators with 32, 18 and 8 pairs of thermocouples are compared to investigate their capability under non-uniform solar radiation. The result shows that the non-uniformity of the solar illumination has a great effect on the temperature distribution and the voltage distribution. Central thermoelectric legs can achieve a larger temperature difference and generate a larger voltage than peripheral ones. The non-uniform solar illumination will weaken the capability of the TE generator, and the maximum output power decrease by 1.4% among the range of non-uniformity studied in this paper. Reducing the number of the thermoelectric legs for non-uniform solar illumination can greatly increase the performance of the thermoelectric generator.

Keywords

solar thermoelectric generators / non-uniform solar illumination / performance evaluation / solar energy

参考文献

[1] Rowe D M. Thermoelectrics Handbook: Macro to Nano. Boca Raton: CRC press, 2005

[2] Venkatasubramanian R, Siivola E, Colpitts T, O'Quinn B. Thin-film thermoelectric devices with high room-temperature figures of merit. Nature, 2001, 413(6856): 597–602

[3] Jang J Y, Tsai Y C. Optimization of thermoelectric generator module spacing and spreader thickness used in a waste heat recovery system. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2013, 51(1–2): 677–689

[4] Chen W H, Liao C Y, Hung C I, Huang W L. Experimental study on thermoelectric modules for power generation at various operating conditions. Energy, 2012, 45(1): 874–881

[5] Gomez M, Reid R, Ohara B, Lee H. Influence of electrical current variance and thermal resistances on optimum working conditions and geometry for thermoelectric energy harvesting. Journal of Applied Physics, 2013, 113(17): 174908

[6] Kraemer D, Poudel B, Feng H P, Caylor J C, YuB.High-performance flat-panel solar thermoelectric generators with high thermal concentration. Nature materials, 2011, 10(7): 532–538

[7] Lertsatitthanakorn C, Therdyothin A, Soponronnarit S. Performance analyses and economic evaluation of a hybrid thermoelectric solar water heater. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part A, Journal of Power and Energy, 2010, 224(5): 621–627

[8] Chen W H, Wang C C, Hung C I, Yang C C, Juang R C. Modeling and simulation for the design of thermal-concentrated solar thermoelectric generator. Energy, 2014, 64: 287–297

[9] Moraes F S, Santos L C, Alencar R N, Sempels Éric V ,Sandoval J C, Lesage F J .Solar thermoelectric generator performance relative to air speed. Energy Conversion and Management, 2015, 99: 326–333

[10] Rahbar N, Esfahani J A. Experimental study of a novel portable solar still by utilizing the heatpipe and thermoelectric module. Desalination, 2012, 284: 55–61

[11] Chen J. Thermodynamic analysis of a solar-driven thermoelectric generator. Journal of Applied Physics, 1996, 79(5): 2717–2721

[12] Baranowski L L, Snyder G J, Toberer E S. Concentrated solar thermoelectric generators. Energy & Environmental Science, 2012, 5(10): 9055–9067

[13] Amatya R, Ram R J. Solar thermoelectric generator for micropower applications. Journal of Electronic Materials, 2010, 39(9): 1735–1740

[14] Chen G. Theoretical efficiency of solar thermoelectric energy generators. Journal of Applied Physics, 2011, 109(10): 104908

[15] Candadai A A, Kumar V P, Barshilia H C. Performance evaluation of a natural convective-cooled concentration solar thermoelectric generator coupled with a spectrally selective high temperature absorber coating. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2016, 145: 333–341

[16] Li P, Cai L, Zhai P, Tang X, Zhang Q.Design of a concentration solar thermoelectric generator. Journal of electronic materials, 2010, 39(9): 1522–1530

[17] Kraemer D, McEnaney K, Chiesa M, ChenG.Modeling and optimization of solar thermoelectric generators for terrestrial applications. Solar Energy, 2012, 86(5): 1338–1350

[18] Ming T, Wang Q, Peng K, Cai Z,Yang W.The influence of non-uniform high heat flux on thermal stress of thermoelectric power generator. Energies, 2015, 8(11): 12584–12602

[19] Suzuki R O, Ito K O, Oki S. Analysis of the performance of thermoelectric modules under concentrated radiation heat flux. Journal of Electronic Materials, 2016, 45(3): 1827–1835

[20] Admasu B T, Luo X, Yao J. Effects of temperature non-uniformity over the heat spreader on the outputs of thermoelectric power generation system. Energy Conversion and Management, 2013, 76: 533–540

[21] Xiao J, Yang T, Li P,Zhai P, Zhang Q.Thermal design and management for performance optimization of solar thermoelectric generator. Applied Energy, 2012, 93: 33–38

[22] Antonova E E, Looman D C. Finite elements for thermoelectric device analysis in ANSYS. In: 24th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, 2005

[23] Deng Y, Zhu W, Wang Y, ShiY. Enhanced performance of solar-driven photovoltaic–thermoelectric hybrid system in an integrated design. Solar Energy, 2013, 88: 182–191

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51590903).

版权

2018 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature