Abstract

Pyroelectric thermal energy harvesters are intriguing alternatives to thermoelectric devices due to their high thermodynamic efficiency and reduced heat sink requirements. Thermoelectric generators use see beck effect to generate voltage from a spatial thermal gradient. Instead the temporal changes of the thermal energy can be captured by means of Pyroelectricity. Non-Olsen cycle method of pyroelectricity generation enables the usage of renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy. The aim of this work is to study the ability of harvesting energy using a Lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT-5H) pyroelectric material using Non-Olsen cycle method. The PZT-5H is exposed to solar radiation and a periodic temperature change in the material is obtained by using the mechanical setup. The mechanical setup consists of a rotating chopper disc and a vertical axis wind turbine (savonious type).The savonious wind turbine provides mechanical input to the chopper disc such that it periodically allows the solar irradiation to fall on the PZT-5H material and will provide a time varying temperature. This method proves to be economical than Olsen cycle method as the time varying temperature can be obtained from the naturally available sources such as solar and wind energy. To maximize the output, optical concentrators are used to intensify the solar irradiation.

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