Peltier Testing Device Using Temperature Control for Energy Harvesting Applications

Abstract

Energy harvesting is the process of collecting relatively small amounts of energy from ambient power sources. Sources of energy include wind, chemical reaction, vibration and motion, temperature difference, light, and radio frequency. Some applications include wireless sensors and handheld electronic devices that require only a small amount of power to stay active. Since the utilizable power level is low, these applications require low-power microprocessors that consume the smallest possible energy. The low energy consumption of these devices allows them to function in remote or harsh environments. If the energy obtained is not utilized immediately, it can also be stored in capacitors or batteries. Thermoelectric Peltier devices are used as the energy harvesting source in this study. Thermoelectric system is relatively stable and easy to manage compared to other energy harvesting sources. This study describes the development of a computer-controlled testing device that allows the user to control the temperature difference across a Peltier module. The physical components of this testing device include thermostats as over-temperature switches, thermocouples as temperature sensors, sensor interface ICs as the temperature reading and transmitting medium, and an ultra-low power microcontroller. The device can be further improved as a feedback-controlled testing device by modifying Python code to tell the microcontroller when to start and to stop reading temperature when a certain temperature is reached.