Micro thermoelectric generator — A source of clean energy

This work presents the design, simulation and performance of Micro Thermoelectric Generator (micro TEG) for power generation from solar heat. For analysis we used P and N silicon Thermo elements and Copper as the interconnect between the two legs. The output voltage obtained per device is 10.55mV, for a temperature difference of 10K. By varying the thickness of the interconnect layer the output can be varied. The size of the each leg of thermocouples in this analysis is 50 μm by diameter and height 100μm and distance between two legs, 50 μm. This gives a power density of 0.145W.cm^-2K^-2. The power can be efficiently used for lighting an LED with a power rating of 72mW.