Thermoelectric Energy Conversion System With Multiple Inputs

A multiinput-single-output converter is presented herein, which is applied to harvesting heat energy. Such a converter utilizes interleaved switches to solve an inherent problem in this circuit so that each thermoelectric generator has its own maximum power point tracking. In addition, this converter has low voltage stresses on switches, a high step-up voltage gain, etc. In this study, the basic principles of the proposed converter are first described and then analyzed. Afterward, the proposed converter is applied to the thermoelectric energy conversion system with the three-point-weighting method used to achieve the maximum power point tracking. Finally, some experimental results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of this thermoelectric energy conversion system.