Thermoelectric energy scavenging from waste heat of power amplifier transistors

A thermoelectric (TE) energy scavenging technique is proposed to recover energy from the waste heat of power amplifier (PA) transistors. Explored are optimized pellet geometries for maximum efficiency and performance of TE power generation scavenging energy under various parametric conditions. A fully-coupled TE model is developed and integrates TE physics with heat transfer physics. The TE model is exercised to optimize pellet geometries under various heat dissipations of PA transistors, heat sink performances, and load resistances. The TE model determines the efficiencies and the performances of the energy scavenging module associated with optimized pellet geometries.