Integration of Thermoelectric Generators with Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Plants: An Investigation

Abstract Over the years Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Plants have proved themselves to be one of the most efficient ways of Solar Power generation as they do not need energy storage systems and can be used to produce power even when sunlight is not available. But, they come with their own set of challenges which can arise anywhere from the receiver setup to the thermal energy storage system. Though various methods have been proposed to overcome all the shortcomings that can possibly be present in such a system, a phenomenon known as the Seebeck effect which is the working principle behind Thermoelectric Generators can be used to generate electricity due to the virtue of the considerable temperature difference that we can obtain on a Concentrated Solar Thermal System. The Seebeck Effect essentially refers to the production of a voltage difference between two dissimilar electrical conductors or semiconductors due to the temperature difference between the two. Scaling this method to the size of the Power Plant Systems can give us fruitful results and this project tries to gauge this very potential and pave the way for a novel method of power generation. Further, simulation results have been used to determine the power generated by Thermoelectric Generator Units and these results can be extrapolated to determine actual power generation post integration of the aforementioned technologies.