Sustainable solar energy harvesting using phase change material (PCM) embedded pyroelectric system

Abstract

This work proposes a smart control of pyroelectric energy harvesting, based on the form-stable phase change material (PCM) composites utilizing polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 1-tetradecanol (1-TD). Solar light transmitted into a pyroelectric system made of window glass and indium tin oxide (ITO) pyro-electrode can provoke thermoelectric energy conversion by the change of temperature difference. The transparent pyro-electrode allows the transmitted solar light to reach the other side of the window glass. The PCM composite placed at the side can reduce the temperature fluctuation to control the change of temperature difference during the light-on/-off process. Since pyroelectric harvesting effects depends on the intensity of sunlight, different solar irradiations (10, 15, and 20 mW/cm2) were applied to the energy harvesting system in this study. The pyro-electrode could generate stable and continuous electrical energy by the combination of PCM composites. In addition, the underlying physics behind the system are theoretically modeled by utilizing the finite element method (FEM).