A Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting System for Environmental Monitoring in WSN and IoT

Clean Energy harvesting is getting important in the last decade due to global warming and other pollutant effects. Researchers and Scientists are working to develop clean energy sources which can provide energy without spreading the pollution in the environment. Energy sources like batteries and cells are also the source of pollution and ideally should not be used. So, a reliable source of energy without pollution is always in high demand for Internet of Things (IoT) and Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). In this paper, a new design is proposed which can convert solar thermal energy into electrical energy. A brick with Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) has been proposed with a special arrangement which can provide energy during day and nighttime. Phase Change Material (PCM) is also used to store the thermal energy of solar heat. A mathematical model is also developed to check the validity of the proposed model. The Model can develop in terms of Brick and can be used to generate energy for smart buildings based on IoT and WSN technologies. The proposed system can generate 4.8mW of output power with 90oC temperature difference. This power can provide energy to any WSN node.