Preliminary Experiment for Electricity Generation
using Peltier Modules
Sarinee Ouitrakul
Department of Electrical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering at Sriracha, Kasetsart University Si Racha Campus
Chonburi, Thailand
sarinee@eng.src.ku.ac.th
Abstract—This paper presents a preliminary study of
electricity generation using Peltier modules. Ceramic
thermoelectric cooling module (Peltier module), TEC1-12710
model, was used as electricity generation. The experimental box
is a hardwood box and the inside is an aluminium box, which
consists of hot and cold sides. The temperatures in a hot side and
a cold side were controlled by using heater and dry ice,
respectively. Electrical parameters of the Peltier module in a
single module, series, parallel and mixed combination circuits
were investigated at the temperature gradient of 10 degrees
Celsius. The results showed that the voltage, current and power
of a single module are 0.18V, 0.93A and 0.086W, respectively, at
0.1 ohms. When two and four modules are combined in series,
the voltages of the modules are 2 and 4 times of a single module,
respectively. In addition, 1.2 times of current is obtained from 4
parallel modules at the same condition.
Keywords—peltier; thermoelectric generator; electricity
generator; alternative renewable energy; seebeck effect
I. INTRODUCTION
Due to fuel price spike and global warming, several
countries are now more interested in searching and developing
of the renewable energy sources. The use of thermoelectric
power generators for electrical power generation at the low
temperature heat sources is one of the most important energy
sources. The enormous of wasting thermal energy (heat) could
be produced from various sources, such as factories,
transportation systems and even private houses or public
buildings. Therefore, the utilization of direct heat to electricity
conversion plays an important role in determining an actual
and acceptable performance. Many researchers [1-4] have
been tried to improve in material sciences, develop the
generation system, and progress in nanotechnology for
bringing to the thermoelectric materials. In general, the
efficiency of thermoelectric converters depends on the material
parameters summarized in the figure of merit ZT [5].
Furthermore design aspects, especially, the leg length and heat
transfer conditions have a significant influence on electrical
efficiency. Then, the challenge for the researcher is continuing
to create a direct heat to electricity converter of high power,
acceptable efficiency, and a relatively wide range of
temperatures.
Peltier module, also known as thermoelectric module, is the
small solid-state devices that combine thermal, electrical, and
978-1-4799-2993-1/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE
typically, also semiconductor properties to convert heat into
electricity or electrical power directly into cooling. A
thermoelectric module consists of many thermocouples. A
thermocouple produces low voltage and high current. Thus, to
obtain high voltages, a number of thermocouples are connected
electrically in series and thermally in parallel to form a module.
The direct conversion of Peltier module from heat sources
looks like geothermal energy, solar energy or waste heat into
electrical energy. The main advantages of Peltier module are
the low maintenance requirement, the high modularity and the
possibility of utilizing heat sources over a wide temperature
range. In addition, the more advantages of Peltier module are
no moving parts, no Freon refrigerant, no noise, no vibration,
compact, highly reliable, and environmentally friendly, etc.
This paper describes a preliminary experiment on the
electricity generation from Peltier modules. The electrical
generation of a single, series, parallel and mixed combination
circuits of Peltier module was investigated at 10 degrees
Celsius temperature gradient. The paper will proceed as
follows. In Section I, the testing of electrical generation from
Peltier modules are proposed. In Section II, the background of
thermoelectric system is mentioned. In Section III, the system
overview of Peltier module experiment is provided. Section IV
describes the results of the research and includes a discussion
of the experimental data. Finally, the summary of the paper
and the future works are presented in Section V.
II. THERMOELECTRIC DEVICE
The basic of thermoelectric effects such as the Peltier effect
and the Seebeck effect are used to explain the conversion of
heat energy into electrical energy or vice versa.
Thermoelectric generators using the Seebeck effect basically
work on a temperature gradient. When a steady temperature
gradient is maintained along a finite conductor, the free
carriers at the hot end will have greater kinetic energy and
tend to diffuse to the cold end. For any thermoelectric
generator, the voltage (V) generated by the thermoelectric
generator is directly proportional to the number of couples (N)
and the temperature gradient between the top and bottom sides
of the thermoelectric and the Seebeck coefficients of the n and
p- type materials.
A. Peltier and Seebeck Effects α 2σ
A thermoelectric module can be used as eithere a cooler or a ZT = T (3)
power generator, but not with the best efficciency. When the λ
current flows across a thermoelectric juncttion, the heat and where α is the Seebeck coeffi
ficient
cool will be occurred due to the Peltier effectt, depending on the
direction of the current flow (Fig.1 (a)). When heat flows σ is the electrical condductivity
across the junction, the electrical current is geenerated due to the λ is the thermal conduuctivity
Seebeck effect (Fig.1 (b)). Peltier effect coolers
c are almost
always constructed with Bismuth Telluride (Bi2Te3) and used Today’s materials, the maaximum ZTs of about at most
around room temperature and below rooom temperature. unity is obtained. This gives effficiencies of about 10 to 15 % of
Seebeck effect power generators are often coonstructed by PbTe the particular Carnot efficiency (η carnot ) .
or, SiGe as well as Bi2Te3 and are usedd at much higher
temperatures. TH − TC
η carnot = [5] (4)
TH
Then, the efficiency of a thhermoelectric converter depends
heavily on the temperature graadient ∆T = TH – TC across the
device.
B. Peltier Module
The construction of the Peltier module looks like a
sandwich. It consists of two ceramic
c plates with an array of
small Bismuth Telluride cubes ("couples") in between (Fig.2).
Basically, the voltage can be produced
p by a module, whereas
the charge carriers in metals and semiconductors (in the
thermoelectric generator) are free to move, while carrying
charge as well as heat. When a different temperature is applied
(a) (bb)
to a module, the mobile chargee carriers at the hot end tend to
Fig. 1. Thermoelectric heat engines. (a) the cooling/heeating property (Peltier diffuse to the cold end. The buuild-up of charge carriers has the
effect) (b) the electrical power generation (Seebeck effeect)
results in a net charge on the cold side, which produces the
voltage.
The Seebeck voltage is the open circuit voltage
v when there
are no current flows. The junction of
o two dissimilar
conductors is maintained at two different tem
mperatures TH and
TC; where TH is the temperature of the heatt source (hot side)
and TC is the temperature of the sink (colld side). An open
circuit voltage is developed:
Voc= αp,n (TH-TC) (1)
where αp,n is the Seebeck coefficient.
The Seebeck coefficient of the juncttion between two
materials (p-type and n-type) is the same as the difference
between the two absolute coefficients [6]:
αp,n = αp - αn (2) Fig. 2. Practical Peltier module [7]
Thermocouples are formed from two dissimilar conductors
and are used to measure the temperatture. Metal alloy III. MATERIA
AL AND METHOD
thermocouples are also in widespread use. Most
M metals possess A. Experimental Box
Seebeck coefficients of 10 µV/K or less, but b semiconductor
materials are promising in constructing thhe thermocouples The hardwood was used to form two compartments for the
because they have Seebeck coefficients in exxcess of 100 µV/K. experimental box. The cold annd the hot side were installed at
Good thermoelectric materials must havve large Seebeck the top and the bottom box, resspectively. Four Peltier modules
coefficients, high electrical conductivities and low thermal were inserted in the middle of o the box. The size of each
conductivities to retain the heat at the juncttion and to reduce compartment is 15x15x13.5 cm. An illustration of the
the heat transfer losses. The property requirements of experimental box is shown in Fig. 3. Inside of the both
thermoelectric module are summarized in what w is called the compartments were placed by aluminium
a plate. Moreover, the
figure of merit ZT [5]: bottom side will be heated using a heater that was controlled by
a microcontroller. The top sidde will be cooled down by using
dye ice and fan. DS18B200 devices were used as the
temperature measuring in both sides.
 D. Procedure
In this experiment, the tempperature gradient was fixed at 10
degrees Celsius to determine the electrical generator of the
Peltier performance. The Peltieer modules will be further tested
in a single (Fig.5), series (Figg.6 (a)), parallel (Fig.6 (b)) and
mixed combination circuits (Figg.6 (c) and (d)).

Fig. 3. Illustration of a experimental box (1) cold side (2) hot side (3) peltier (a) (b)
(4) wiring connections

B. Peltier
Commercial ceramic thermoelectric cooling module
(Peltier module), or TEC1-12710 modulle, was used as
electricity generators. It has 127 couples Peltier
P cooling and
89W of cooling power. The material is madee from the ceramic
substrate Sb Bi Se Te and Sn. The size andd weight of Peltier (c) (d)
are 4x4x0.33 cm and 25g, respectivelyy. The maximum
temperature gradient is 67 degree Celsiuus. The module Fig. 6. Schematic of the experimennt (a) series combination circuits (b)
resistance is 1.08 ohms at 25 degree Celsius.. Figure 4 shows parallel combination circuits (c) paralleel-series combination circuits (d) series-
the TEC1-12710 model. parallel combination circuits

IV. RESULTS AND

A DISCUSSIONS
A. Single Peltier Module
In this experiment, the Peltier
P module can generate a
voltage with the temperature gradient
g of 5 degrees Celsius as
shown in Fig. 7. Every 10 minnutes, temperature gradient of 5
degrees Celsius on both sidess will be increased. The result
shows that if the temperature gradient
g is 5 degrees Celsius, the
Fig. 4. TEC1-12710 model generated voltage will be appproximately at 57.2mV (48.87-
68.42mV). This implies that a Peltier device can produce a
C. Measuring System voltage when the temperature gradient falls between the hot-
side and cold-side of device.
The voltage generating from the Peltier module (PM) was
measured by using high impedance measurinng circuit, which is
a laboratory made and is controlled by a miicrocontroller. The
system can simultaneously measure the voltage and the
temperature. After that, the measured data will
w be sent to a PC
via RS232. The software for controlling the measuring system
was developed by using the Visual Basicc. The data were
recorded every 2 seconds. The current (I) can be calculated
from V=IRload by connecting a load resistance to the system
(Fig.5). The resistance load (Rload) ranged froom 0.1 ohms to 10
megaohms were used for measuring the curreent and power. The
power can be calculated from P = V x I.

Fig. 7. The measured voltage of a Peltier module and temperature in a hot

and a cold side versus time at temperatture gradient 5 degrees Celcius

The effect of temperaturre gradient (ΔT) is shown in Fig.

8. It was found that the generaating voltage is increased by the
increasing of temperature graadient. This implied that the
Fig. 5. Illustration of a measuring system
generated voltage depends onn the temperature gradient. The
higher voltage will be obtained at the hiigher temperature with 2 and 4 modules are decreeased. It was also found that the
gradient at each side of Peltier modules. series combination circuit off Peltier module provides the
higher voltage and the lower cuurrent and power.

Fig. 11. The measured voltage of seriess-peltier combination versus current

Fig. 8. The measured voltage of a Peltier moddule versus different

temperature

The current and power generation of singgle Peltier module

are shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10, respectiveely. It was found
that if the temperature gradient at each sidee of the module is
higher, the current and power will be also higgher obtained.

Fig. 12. The measured power of series--peltier combination versus current

C. Parallel Combination Circuuit of Peltier Modules

Fig. 9. The measured voltage of single peltier veersus current (1ohms-
10Mohms)
In Fig. 13, it was observedd that the maximum voltage of
205 mV and the maximum cuurrent of 1.13 A were obtained
from the parallel 4 modules. This means that the current of
Peltier modules can be increased
i using the parallel
combination. Moreover, the current
c will be less decreased
when the resistances load is bellow 5 ohms.

Fig. 10. The generated power of single peltier verssus current (1ohms-
10Mohms) Fig. 13. The measured voltage of paralllel-peltier combination versus current

B. Series Combination Circuit Peltier Moduules

Fig. 11 is shown that the obtained volttages of the series
combination circuit with 2 and 4 modules arre 2 and 4 times of
a single Peltier module, respectively. Fig. 122 is shown that the
current and power of the series Peltier coombination circuit

Fig. 14. The measured power of parallel-peltier combinaation versus current
D. Mixed Combination Circuit of Peltier Modules
M combination. The maximum electrical efficiency is obtained at
The maximum current of 1.66A and pow wer of 276 mW are
obtained at load 0.1 ohms using series-paralllel combination of
four modules. The results were shown in Fig. F 15 and 16. It
was found that the series-parallel is suitable for connecting the
Peltier module circuit for the practical circuitt.
Fig. 15. The measured voltage of mixed-peltier combinaation versus current
Fig. 16. The measured power of mixed-peltier combinattion versus current
V. CONCLUSION
The study of the electrical generation of the Peltier module
has been proposed in this research. The single
s module can
generate the energy as expected. The maaximum electrical
generator was obtained at higheer temperature gradient at 30°C.
The result shows that the temperature gradient between the hot
and cold sides of a thermoelecttric generator should be as large
as possible to maximize the pow
wer-generation efficiency.
A maximum voltage of 0.18V, current of 0.93A and power
of 0.086W at 0.1 ohm load were obtained with the single
module. The results indicatee that the Peltier module can
generate the electrical current. Moreover, the output electrical
efficiency depends on a temperature gradient.
At temperature gradient 100 degrees Celsius, it was found
that the open circuit voltages of 2 and 4 times will be obtained
when the two and four Peltier modules are connected in series
combination, respectively. While
W the current of 1.2 times is
obtained, the four Peltier moddules are connected in parallel
series-parallel combination. It means that the best electrical
efficiency by series-parallel coombination circuit of the Peltier
modules can be achieved.
In the point of view of the author, although the cost of the
Peltier module is still expeensive and the efficiency is
approximately 5%-15%, the alternative
a energy is one of the
interesting energy systems in Thailand
T because there are many
heat sources in the country. Inn the future work, the electrical
generation with the array Peltier module using waste heat
should be investigated.
ACKNOWLLEDGMENT
The author would like to thank
t Mr.Chavanluck Tanwiset,
Mr.Supanut Kurusiripong and Mr.Suppamit
M Sarathana for their
help on the experiments.
REFER
RENCES
[1] S. Travadi and J. Dabhi, “Revieew on Design and Analytical Model of
Thermoelectric Generator,” Interrnational Journal of Scienctific research,
vol. 2, Feb, 2013.
[2] J.V. Joshi1 and N. M. Patel, “Thermoelectric system to generate
electricity from waste heat of thet flue gases,” Advances in Applied
Science Research, vol. 3, no. 2, 2012,
2 pp.1077-1084.
[3] A.S. Adavbiele., “Generation of Electricity from Gasoline Engine Waste
Heat,” Journal of Energy Technoologies and Policy, vol.3, no. 5, 2013.
[4] B.I. Ismail, W.H. Ahmed, “Thhermoelectric Power Generation Using
Waste-Heat Energy as an Alternative Green Technology,”, Recent
Patents on Electrical Engineeringg, vol.2, 2009, pp.27-39.
[5] A. Bitschi, “Modelling of therrmoelectric devices for electric power
generation,” Dissertation submittted to the Swiss Federal /institute of
Technology Zurich, Technical Unniversity of Vienna, 2009.
[6] O. Francis, I. Kingsley O., and Okafor
O I.O.U, “Assessment of Economic
Impact and Efficiency of a Combined Gas Turbine with a
Thermoelectric Generator,” Inteernational Journal of Multidisciplinary
Sciences and Engineering, vol. 3,, no. 7, July, 2012.
[7] L.E.Bell., “Cooling, Heating, Geenerating Power, and Recovering Waste
Heat with Thermoelectric Systeem,” Science, vol. 321, 12 September,
2008, pp. 1457-1461.