A thermoelectric energy harvesting system for pavements with a fin cooling structure

Abstract

By using thermoelectric technology, the heat of the road can be collected and converted into electricity. However, the current pavement thermoelectric energy harvesting system (TEHS) has problems such as a low road utilization rate, high power generation cost, and complex structure that cannot be applied on a large scale, which limit its further development. In this paper, a multi-layer TEHS for pavements is proposed. The design of this multilayer structural board provides more space for thermoelectric generators (TEGs) without increasing the road area, which significantly improves the utilization rate of the road and the power generation. Aluminum fins are used as heat dissipation components to greatly reduce costs and facilitate installation. The optimal structure size of the TEHS is obtained by finite element heat transfer analysis, verified by an experimental study. The results show that the highest generation voltage can reach 0.3 V, which means that 16.94 kW h power can be effectively collected from a road with a length of 1 km and a width of 10 m within 6 hours. This research is of great significance for the TEHS to improve road utilization and reduce power generation costs, and for large-scale utilization.