Improving the performance of the MPPT for thermoelectric generator system by using Kalman filter

In this paper, perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm is presented to grab the maximum power point from Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) sources. The main contribution of this study relies on estimating the output power of TEG by using Kalman filter to readjust the characteristics of TEG with respect to operating conditions. In the real applications, there is a disturbance appears on the power curve due to the heat distribution on the TEG surfaces. For smooth implementation of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm and to overcome the disturbance, Kalman filter is used. It is estimate the output power curve which paves the way for MPPT to be implemented easily in the microcontroller. The feasibility of the proposed harvesting system verified experimentally.