• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.08a
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• pp.56.4-56
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• 1998

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2005

The tandem solar cell composed of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) and a thermoelectric generator (TEG) was designed. In such new cell, the characteristics of DSC and TEG were investigated. DSC uses the wavelength range of 380∼750 nm and has the maximum efficiency of below 10 ％. If the solar light transmitted through DSC can be converted to heat energy, TEG can generate electric energy using this heat energy. By this means, it is possible to utilize most of solar energy in the wavelength range of 350∼3000 nm for electric generation and it can be expected to obtain higher solar energy conversion efficiency exceeding the known limit of maximum efficiency. For this purpose we suggest the tandem solar cell constructed with DSC and TEG. In this structure, DSC has a carbon nanotube film as a counter electrode of DSC in order to collect the solar light and convert it to heat energy. We measured the I-V characteristics of DSC and TEG, assembled to the tandem cell. As a result, it was shown that DSC with carbon nanotube and TEG had the efficiency of 9.1 ％ and 6.2 ％, respectively. From this results, it is expected that the tandem solar cell of the new design has the possibility of enhanced conversion efficiency to exceed above 15 ％.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.87-96
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• 2011

According to adverse effects of ecosystems due to a bulk of fossil fuel consumption, utilization of sustainable and renewable energy is required. In this paper, converting the energy crisis into an opportunity of new growth is expected by converting heat energy in asphalt pavement into electric power using thermoelectric effect. For this, experiments of inserting heat collector pipe and thermoelectric element into asphalt were performed, and the electric power of heat energy harvesting was measured for development of efficient harvesting system of heat energy. As the results of experiments, electric conversion of average 19.86W per day is possible at $1m^2$ conversion area at a depth of 5cm, and possibility of this system was confirmed. Consequently, a systematic "Green Road" using sustainable heat energy source in asphalt pavement simultaneously with environmental maintenance and econovic growth was suggested.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.90-97
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• 2021

In this study, a Bi2Te3 thermoelectric generator (TEG) was fabricated to convert unused thermal energy into useful electrical energy. For the performance test, a dedicated experiment device consisting of a heating block operating with cartridge heaters and a cooling block through which a refrigerant flows was constructed. A 3×3 array of thermocouples was mounted on the heating block and the cooling block, respectively, to derive the temperature fields and heat transfer rate onto both sides of the TEG. Experiments were conducted for a total of 9 temperature differences, obtaining V-I and P-R curves. The results of 7 variables including Seebeck coefficients that have a major effect on performance were presented as a function of the temperature difference. The feasibility of the energy recovery performance of the developed TEG was verified from the maximum power output of 7.5W and conversion efficiency of 11.3%.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.956-961
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• 2000

This paper describes the design of a small size Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Converter (AMTEC) which employs a capillary structure for recirculating sodium working fluid. The cycle is based on the simple and small capillary type ${\beta}"$ -alumina and wick tube element. The proposed cell consists of the 37 conversion elements with capillary tube of $50{\mu}m$ in diameter and the sealed cylindrical vessel of 22mm in outer diameter. Results on the cycle analysis of sodium flow and heat transfer in the cell showed that the expected power output was 4.65W and the conversion efficiency was 19% for the source temperature of 900K.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.632-637
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• 2000

Thermoelectric conversion properties of commercial Fe-Si2 and Fe-Si alloy ingots prepared by RF inductive furnace were investigated. As sintering temperature increased, density of the specimen increased and the phase transformation from metallic phases ($\varepsilon$-FeSi, ${\alpha}$-Fe2Si5) to semiconducting phase (${\beta}$-FeSi2) occurred more effectively. The FeSi phase was detected even after 100hrs of annealing treatment. For the Fesi1.95∼FeSi2.05 specimens prepared by RF inductive furnace, the thermoelectric property improved as the composition of the specimen approached to stoichiometric composition FeSi2. Electrical conductivity of the specimen increased with increasing temperatures showing typical semiconducting behavior. From the electrical conductivity measurements, activation energy in the intrinsic region (above about 700 K) was calculated to be approximately 0.46 eV. In spite of non-doping, the Seebeck coefficient for every specimen exhibited p-type conduction due to Si deficiency. Its maximum value was located at about 475 K, and then decreased abruptly with increasing temperatures. The power factor was governed by the Seebeck coefficient of the specimen more significantly than by electrical conductivity.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.315-320
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• 2008

The effect of Mn additive on the thermoelectric properties of Fe-Si alloys prepared by a RF inductive furnace was investigated. The electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient were measured as a function of temperature under Ar atmosphere to evaluate their applicability to thermoelectric energy conversion. The electrical conductivity of the specimens increased with increasing temperatures showing typical semiconducting behavior. The electrical conductivity of Mn-doped specimens are higher than that of undoped specimens and increased slightly with increasing the amount of Mn additive. This must be due to the difference in carrier concentration and the amount of residual metallic phase ${\varepsilon}$-FeSi(The ${\varepsilon}$-FeSi was detected in spite of 100 h annealing treatment at $830^{\circ}C$). And metallic conduction increased slightly with increasing the amount of Mn additive. On the other hand, Mn-doped specimens showed the lower Seebeck coefficient due to metallic phase. The power factor of Mn-doped specimens are higher than that of undoped specimens and would be affected by the electrical conductivity more than Seebeck coefficient.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2016.10a
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• pp.520-523
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• 2016

This paper describes a DC-DC converter with MPPT control for thermoelectric energy harvesting. The designed circuit converts low voltage harvested from a thermoelectric generator into higher voltage for powering a load. A start-up circuit supplies VDD to a controller, and the controller turns on and off a NMOS switch of a main-boost converter. The converter supplies the boosted voltage to the load through the switch operation. Bulk-driven comparators can do the comparison under low voltage condition and are used for voltage regulation. Also, bulk-driven comparators raise system's efficiency. A peak conversion efficiency of 76% is achieved. The proposed circuit is designed in a 0.35um CMOS technology and its functionality has been verified through simulations. The designed chip occupies $933um{\times}769um$.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.206-211
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• 2021

This paper proposes a Self-Reset Zero-Current Switching (ZCS) Circuit for thermoelectric energy harvesting. The Self-Reset ZCS circuit minimizes the operating current consumed by the voltage comparator, thereby reduces the power consumption of the energy harvesting circuit and improves the energy conversion efficiency by adding the self-reset function to the comparator. The Self-Reset ZCS circuit shows 3.4% of improvement in energy efficiency compared to the energy harvesting system with the conventional analog comparator ZCS for the output/input voltage ratio of 5.5 as a result of circuit simulation. The proposed circuit is useful for improving the performance of the wearable and bio-health-related harvesting circuits, where low-power and energy-efficient thermoelectric energy harvesting is needed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 1998.05a
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• pp.125-130
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• 1998

인간의 역사상 거의 모든 기술과 공학적, 역사적 사건중 가장 첫 번째로 꼽는 것이 불의 발견이라고 할 수 있고 생식에서 가공식의 시작이고 에너지의 이용기술의 시작이라고 할 수 있다. 열에너지의 이용기술은 증기터빈, 내연기관, 발전소 등의 응용기술로 많은 발전을 거듭하고 있으나 열에너지와 전기에너지지간의 변환에서는 여러 측면에서 손실을 가지고 있다. (중략)