Thermoelectric power generation with maximum power point tracking

With ever-increasing demand on energy conservation, there is fast growing interest in the development of clean energy technologies, like the thermoelectric power generation (TPG). Due to the special output characteristics of the thermoelectric power generator, the power conditioning circuit and its maximum power point tracking (MPPT) are needed. In this paper, an overview of the previous research on the TPG systems is presented, and then, a new TPG system with the dc-dc Cuk converter and MPPT controller is proposed and implemented. Finally, experimental results are given to verify the validity of the proposed system.