Waste energy harvesting with a thermoelectric generator

Providing a sustainable supply of energy is becoming a major societal problem as fossil fuel supplies decrease while demands increase. Hence, the past few years have witnessed a surge in interest in developing alternative renewable energy technologies. In particular, thermoelectric materials have drawn attention because thermoelectric effects enable direct conversion from thermal to electrical energy, and provide an alternative source of power generation. Thermoelectric devices utilise the Seebeck effect, Peltier effect and Thomson effect. The paper discusses a semiconductor based thermopile system that has been used in industrial applications to convert expended heat energy for regeneration.