Current sensorless maximum power point tracking and energy harvesting for thermoelectric generators.

摘要

Presented is a duty-cycle-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) scheme with estimated power dependent on duty cycle and output voltage. Conventional MPPT methods suer from power and scal needs involving direct current mea- surement, or disconnection of source and load for open circuit voltage measurement. The proposed scheme avoids these disadvantages, while retaining capability with all generators. The implementation via microcontroller allows for easy tuning of the algorithm to suit the response time of the generator with respect to environmental conditions. The power converter controller maintains the TEG output voltage at a reference level set by the microcontroller, extracting maximum power for the given temperature condition. This microcontroller based MPPT algorithm is inexpensive, has a low power consumption, and can be used with any generator. The proposed system has been validated analytically and experimentally, and shows a maximum power tracking error of 0.15%.