Using Miniature Thermoelectric Generators for Wearable Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Using thermal energy harvesting from human body has the potential to create wearable self-powered devices for multitude of purposes. The focus of this work is to develop a flexible thermoelectric module prototype, consisting of 8 encapsulated miniature thermoelectric generators, which can later be used for powering such a device. The first part of the work focuses on measuring electrical parameters of single miniature thermoelectric generators and the power output of the whole module while using various series-parallel configurations. In the second part of the work a measurement on the forearm is performed to measure typical power output of these configurations in room temperature. Average power output at rest is 3 μW. The last part of this work is centered around testing two DC/DC step-up converters, the LTC3108 and EM8900. Only the EM8900 is proven effective at powering an analog accelerometer with the proposed thermoelectric module as the only power source.