Performance analysis on a solar concentrating thermoelectric generator using the micro-channel heat pipe array

• A solar thermoelectric with micro-channel heat pipe system was presented.
• Mathematical model of the system was built.
• Experiment and the simulation were compared to verify the model.
• Performance of the system with different factors was analyzed.

Micro-channel heat pipe can convert the low heat flux to the high heat flux by changing the ratio of the evaporator area to the condenser area and has a higher heat transfer performance than the common heat pipe. Combining the solar concentrating thermoelectric generation with micro-channel heat pipe can save the quantity of thermoelectric generation and reduce the cost significantly. In this paper, a solar concentrating thermoelectric generator using the micro-channel heat pipe array was designed, and the mathematical model was built. Furthermore, the comparison of the experiment and the simulation between the solar concentrating thermoelectric generator using the micro-channel heat pipe array and the thermoelectric generations in series was made. In addition, the performance on the different areas of selective absorbing coating, different concentration ratios, different ambient temperatures, different wind speed all were analyzed. The outcomes showed the overall performance of the solar concentrating thermoelectric generator using the micro-channel heat pipe array system.