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Development of 100-W High-Efficiency MPPT Power Conditioner and

Evaluation of TEG System with Battery Load

Article  in  Journal of Electronic Materials · May 2011

DOI: 10.1007/s11664-010-1499-3

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Journal of ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, Vol. 40, No. 5, 2011
DOI: 10.1007/s11664-010-1499-3
Ó 2011 TMS

Development of 100-W High-Efficiency MPPT Power

Conditioner and Evaluation of TEG System with Battery Load

HIROSHI NAGAYOSHI,1,3 TATSUYA NAKABAYASHI,2

HIROSHI MAIWA,2 and TAKENOBU KAJIKAWA2

1.—Tokyo National College of Technology, 1220-2, Kunugida-machi, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan.

2.—Shonan Institute of Technology, 1-1-25, Nishikaigan, Tsujido, Kanagawa, Japan. 3.—e-mail:
nagayosi@r2.dion.ne.jp

This paper describes a practical high-efficiency thermoelectric (TE) power

conditioner with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for thermo-
electric generators and the operation results for a battery load system. This
power conditioner comprises a high-frequency step-up/step-down switching
converter and a microcontroller; a synchronized switching circuit is intro-
duced to achieve high conversion efficiency. Furthermore, it is equipped with a
battery charge control program and has a maximum conversion efficiency of
96.7%. An impedance matching method developed for MPPT control showed
excellent response against a change in the TEG output, making it suitable for
solar TEGs as well as general applications.

Key words: Power conditioner, maximum power tracking, TEG system,

battery

INTRODUCTION whose heat source has a temperature distribu-

tion.9,10 The TE modules should be connected in
Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) allow direct
series to form a string that obtains the required
conversion of heat energy to electricity without any
voltage. The simulation results suggest that the
moving parts and have advantages such as dura-
mismatch power loss caused by the temperature
bility and maintenance-free and noiseless operation.
distribution can be reduced when the string is
Recent progress in thermoelectric device technology
placed along the isothermal line on the heat source,
has revealed the possibility of practical large-scale
since each TE module has the same optimum cur-
TEGs and various applications such as vehicles and
rent. In addition, the insertion of a TE power con-
microelectronic devices.1–8 The resistive load can
ditioner in each string ideally minimizes the
derive maximum electric power from the TEG when
mismatch power loss when the strings are con-
the load impedance coincides with the internal
nected in parallel.
impedance of the TEG. However, flexibility in sys-
The TE power conditioner, which maintains the
tem design is lost when the TE modules are directly
optimum electrical condition of the TE modules, is a
connected to the load. In addition, most heat sources
crucial component of the TEG system and ensures
are unstable and have a temperature distribution,
maximum system performance and flexible system
which causes a mismatch power loss in large TEG
design.9–11 We have developed a new maximum
systems. The mismatch power loss increases with
power point tracking (MPPT) control method suit-
the increase of temperature distribution of the heat
able for TEG systems.10 The TE power conditioner
source in large TEG systems, depending on the
with MPPT is inserted between the TE modules,
connection topology of the TE modules. We have
and a load controls the Vout/Vin ratio to match the
evaluated the mismatch power loss in a TEG system
virtual load impedance with the internal impedance
of the TE modules as an impedance converter.10
(Received May 29, 2010; accepted December 15, 2010; In this paper, Vout and Vin are the output voltage
published online January 6, 2011) and input voltage of the TE power conditioner,

657
658 Nagayoshi, Nakabayashi, Maiwa, and Kajikawa

respectively. Almost independent systems such as

vehicles and mountain huts require batteries as
energy storage devices, and TE power conditioners
are useful in such battery systems.
This paper describes the development of a TE
power conditioner with MPPT employing the
impedance matching method for practical use and
experimental results on battery systems.

MPPT CONTROL EMPLOYING THE

IMPEDANCE MATCHING METHOD
The conventional perturb-and-observe method,
which is mainly used in photovoltaic systems,
slightly shifts the operation point of TE modules
back and forward periodically, searching for the
optimum power condition.12–18 However, the con-
ventional method does not provide sufficient con-
vergence for TEG systems. General thermoelectric
modules, which can be expressed as a series con-
nection of electromotive force and internal imped-
ance, have a linear I–V output property. Hence, the
load can obtain the maximum power by simple
impedance matching control between the TE mod-
ules and a load. Eakburanawat et al. reported an
MPPT battery charger using a microcontroller.19
Their system controlled the output current to
maintain the optimum operation condition, requir-
ing data of the internal resistance of the TE module
measured by another facility. However, the internal
impedance of the TE module depends on the tem-
perature difference, and an automatic system for
measurement of the internal resistance is needed
for practical systems.
A DC–DC converter inserted between the TE
modules and a load works as an impedance con-
verter. If the converter matches the virtual load
impedance with the internal impedance of the TE
modules, as shown in Fig. 1, the converter main-
tains the optimum operating condition of the TE
modules. A step-up converter controls the virtual
load impedance toward a value lower than that of
the load. On the other hand, a step-down converter
controls the virtual load impedance to a higher
value. We have developed a power conditioner with
MPPT control suitable for TEG systems, employing
Fig. 2. Relationship between the load line and output power of TE
modules.
the impedance matching method.10 The circuit
periodically measures the impedance of TE mod-
ules, controlling the Vout/Vin ratio to match the vir-
tual load impedance with the internal impedance of
the TE modules. Figure 2 shows the relationship
between the load line and the output power of the
TE modules. If the virtual load impedance is con-
trolled to match the value of the TE modules, the
operation point of the TE modules can maintain the
optimum condition against a change in load condi-
tions and temperature differences.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of the TE
power conditioner with MPPT. The step-up/step-
down switching converter, which operates from
input voltages above, below or equal to the output
voltage, is introduced to achieve wide matching. The
power conditioner is mainly composed of a high-
frequency synchronized switching converter circuit
and its microcontroller. The basic program flow-
chart of the MPPT process is shown in Fig. 4. The
converter automatically measures the internal

Fig. 1. Concept of virtual load impedance. Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of the TE power conditioner circuit.
Development of 100-W High-Efficiency MPPT Power Conditioner and Evaluation 659
of TEG System with Battery Load

Fig. 6. V/Voc ratio versus load resistance.

Fig. 4. Program flowchart of the MPPT process.

Table I. Permissible value of electrical character-

istics for the model facility
Input voltage 100 V
Output voltage 60 V
Output current 10 A
Power 100 W

Fig. 5. Output power as a function of load resistance.

impedance of the TE modules and maintains the

optimum condition. The driving power for the con-
troller circuit is supplied from the output of the TE Fig. 7. (a) Relationship between battery load and TE module output.
modules or the load battery. The switching fre- (b) Output power as a function of the temperature difference in a
quency is 250 kHz. Table I presents the permissible battery load system.
660
Fig. 8. V/Voc ratio as a function of heat source temperature.
Fig. 9. Conversion efficiency as a function of output power.
range of basic electrical characteristics for our test
model of the TE power conditioner. Figure 5 shows
the output power as a function of load resistance. The
experimental results without MPPT show that the
TE power generation system operates under large
energy loss when the operating point deviates from
the optimum condition. On the other hand, the power
output characteristics with MPPT are stable and
greater than those without MPPT, suggesting excel-
lent matching ability. The output power decreases
with the load resistance below 10 X because of high
current density. The convergence time to the opti-
mum operating point is less than 1 s. Figure 6 shows
V/Voc against a change in load resistance, where
V and Voc are the operating voltage and open-circuit
voltage, respectively. The operating voltage is fixed to
half the open-circuit voltage against the load change.
A battery load, which is the most viable
for practical operation of a TEG system as an
Nagayoshi, Nakabayashi, Maiwa, and Kajikawa
independent source, has a constant voltage with
very low impedance. Hence, the output voltage of the
TEG is fixed at the battery voltage when the TEG
output is directly connected to the battery. Figure 7a
shows the relationship between the battery load and
the TEG output. With an increase in the difference
between the optimum operation voltage of the TE
modules and the battery voltage, the mismatch
power loss increases, as shown in Fig. 7b. The out-
put power as a function of the operation voltage of
the TE modules is a quadratic function of the tem-
perature difference when the TE power conditioner
with MPPT is used. On the other hand, the output of
the direct connection to the battery increases line-
arly. In the case that the battery voltage is higher
than the open-circuit voltage, the output current of
the TEG is zero. The TE power conditioner with
MPPT can shift the operating point of the TEG to the
ideal condition, as shown in Fig. 7a. We confirmed
that the TE power conditioner with MPPT employ-
ing the impedance matching method also has excel-
lent matching ability in battery load systems.
Figure 8 shows the experimental V/Voc ratio as a
function of heat source temperature. The TE power
conditioner maintains the V/Voc ratio around 0.5
against the temperature change. Figure 9 shows the
conversion efficiency of the TE power conditioner as
a function of output power. Over 96.7% conversion
efficiency was obtained at 100 W. Figure 10 shows
the response test results of the TE power condi-
tioner. Figure 10a shows the test circuit. A series
connection of a bipolar power supply and resister
was used as the TEG emulator. The bipolar power
supply is modulated by a sine wave oscillator. At
2 Hz modulation, Vin has almost the same waveform
as the output voltage of the power supply. A slight
delay was observed at 5 Hz. These results demon-
strate that the developed TE power conditioner has
excellent response ability and can be applied to solar
TEG systems. We confirmed that each TE power
conditioner maintained the maximum power of the
TE modules under parallel operation with the bat-
tery load. For practical use, the developed TE power
conditioner is equipped with the battery charge
control program.
CONCLUSIONS
A TE power conditioner with MPPT for thermo-
electric power generator systems has been developed
for practical use. The power conditioner is composed
of a step-up/step-down switching converter with a
synchronized switching circuit and control unit. The
effect of the TE power conditioner insertion was
experimentally demonstrated with an electronic
load and battery. The TE power conditioner had an
excellent conversion efficiency of 96.7% and wide
response ability against changes in the TEG output
and the load resistance. We also confirmed that the
developed TE power conditioner had sufficient
response ability for application to solar TEG systems.
 Development of 100-W High-Efficiency MPPT Power Conditioner and Evaluation
of TEG System with Battery Load
Fig. 10. (a) Schematic diagram of the response test circuit, and response at (b) 1 Hz, and (c) 5 Hz.
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