Abstract
Hypothetical small scale stand-alone solar thermal power generating system has been constructed, of which thermo and electric responsiveness was predicted and clarified using improved ZnSb thermoelectric materials. The system consisted of solar collector, available primary and secondary home-use tanks, where the thermoelectric conversion module was sandwiched between these two tanks. The electric responsiveness and thermoelectric conversion efficiency was investigated. The product of overall heat transfer coefficient of the module and heat transfer area, kA affect the rate of heat transfer, period of heat exchange, the conversion efficiency and generating power. Higher kA leads to shorter completion time for heat exchange and higher thermoelectric conversion efficiency. However, the total electric energy was slightly affected by kA. The maximum energy efficiency of the system was 2.21 % and 0.413kWh at kA = 200 W/K with hot water (88.4 °C @ 0.46 m3).
