Global advancements of solar thermoelectric generators application, limitations, and prospects: A comprehensive review

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Roshan Manghwar, Jeyraj Selvaraj, Nasrudin Abd Rahim, Laveet Kumar, Hafeez Khoharo

2024 Applied Thermal Engineering Vol. 257 Review Cited by 32 Quartile

Abstract

The growing interest in renewable energy resources caused by the depletion of fossil fuels and the impacts of climate change and global warming on environment caused by power generation leads to the resources producing negligible emissions. Due to clean and wide availability of solar energy and distinct sources of waste heat from both renewable and nonrenewable sources, significant attention is required to maximize the solar energy harvesting and removal of waste heat to enhance the performance of the systems. Thermoelectric generators are solid state devices considered as a potential candidate to be employed in these systems to address these issues due to their ability of direct conversion of heat into electricity. This review article covers a description of advancements in the thermoelectric generators for efficiency enhancement, and their utilization in a diversified range of applications. This paper highlights the design considerations for the thermoelectric devices and the recent attempts made to increase the performance of these devices. Heat transfer phenomenon associated with thermoelectric generation and relevant expressions are elaborated. Furthermore, it also summarizes the integration of thermoelectric generators in diversified systems and their utilization in industrial, domestic, and commercial applications. Finally, cost and scalability factors, current status, limitations, and future research scope of thermoelectric generators is provided. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd

Affiliations

Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), UM Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Centre (UMPEDAC), Level 4, Wisma R&D, Universiti Malaya, Jalan Pantai Baharu 59990, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan; Adjunct Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia; Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Qatar