Enhancing Solar Power Harvest By Using Absorber Plates on Thermoelectric Generator Modules

Asbtract
Research on thermoelectric as a power generator known as a thermoelectric generator (TEG) shows a positive trend. The current constraint is the relatively low efficiency, especially if it is used to absorb direct sunlight energy. To increase the output power of TEG, it is endeavored to increase the temperature of the hot side by placing the absorber plate on the hot side so that the temperature difference between the hot and cold side (ΔT) will also increase. This study was conducted to determine the magnitude of the increase in electrical energy generated from the TEG module using several variations of absorber plates such as aluminum, iron, and copper compared to without absorber plates. The results showed that the intensity of solar radiation greatly affects the temperature difference obtained from both sides of the TEG module so that it can produce an increase in the difference in output power voltage and efficiency. The power and efficiency of Copper, Iron, Aluminum and without plates were obtained: 0.0023 W and 1.831 %, 0.0019 W and 1.301 %, 0.0004 W and 0.628 %, and 7.14 × 10−5 W and 0.1014 %. It can be seen that there is an increase in output power using Al, Fe, and Cu plates by 5.6, 26.6, and 32.2 times, respectively, and an increase in efficiency by 6.2, 12.8, and 18.1 times.