Efficient autonomous solar panel and thermo-electric generator (TEG) integrated hybrid energy harvesting system

Solar energy is one of the most covenant renewable energy resources. Imminent technologies within the renewable energy sector have significant potential for more efficiently harnessing the light energy. In this paper, a novel hybrid energy harvesting (EH) system consisting of dynamic offset feed mirrored parabolic dish integrated solar panel with thermoelectric generator (TEG) placed on the lower side of solar panel has been proposed. The proposed energy harvesting system is concurrently harvesting both solar and thermal energy which makes the system suitably named as hybrid energy harvesting system. The mirrored parabolic dish is proficient enough to focus all the light radiations at its focal point where solar panel is placed in order to efficiently harvest the light energy, however, the panel also gets warmed up with these radiations. This heat is transmitted to the TEG's hot side, which is installed at the back of the solar panel and is able to generate voltage if temperature gradient is applied across TEG. The proposed energy harvesting system tracks the motion of the sun throughout the day by clocking/tracking method in order to receive maximum radiations by employing DC geared motor which rotates the dish at the step angle of 6.25 degrees is controlled by Arduino UNO. The proposed system employs the solar panel capable of generating of +12V and capable of harvesting the average power of 6watts. The thermoelectric generator installed at the rear side of solar panel is capable of generating the voltage of 7-12 volts and current of 300-500 mA. The harvested energy by means of solar panel and TEG is sufficient enough to autonomously drive the system as well as to store the harvested energy in +12V lead acid rechargeable batteries. It has been observed that the dynamic offset feed mirrored parabolic dish solar panel energy harvesting system is 81% efficient in comparison to static solar panel whereas the proposed hybrid system is 152.02% more efficient in comparison to static parabolic dish integrated solar panel energy harvesting system. The proposed hybrid energy harvesting system is 38.65% more efficient in comparison to dynamic offset feed mirrored parabolic dish solar panel energy harvesting system. The proposed system can be adeptly employed for various applications such as water heating, street lightning, traffic lights etc.