Performance analysis of high gain DC-DC boost converter for thermoelectric power generation system

Thermoelectric power generation has emerged as a promising alternative green technology for the power generation from waste-heat. Thermoelectric devices generate voltage and output electrical power from waste heat to electronic load by meansof the temperature difference across the devices serving as anenergy source. This paper presents the high gain DC-DC boost converter, that has the coupled inductor with voltage multiplier produces a high voltage gain from very low input voltages of Thermo Electric Generator (TEG) for a moderate duty cycle to reduce voltage and current stresses within the converter. In this investigation, 16W TEG module (TEP1-12656-0.6) is used as a DC source to analyze the proposed converter for various temperature differences (ΔT = 270°C, 245°C, 195°C, 145°C, 95°C, 45°C). A MPPT method of tracking the maximum power point and forcing the system to operate close to this point is used at ΔT=270°C using a Perturb and Observe (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (INC) algorithm. The proposed high gain DC-DC converter is simulated using PSIM 9.0 software package. Analysis and simulation are carried out, and the measured results are presented here for validity of the proposed technique.