Metamaterial Concentrator for Thermal Energy Harvester

Abstract

Energy demand increases in line with rapid technological advances. Research on the harvesting of renewable energy continues to be done to make efforts to convert heat energy, which is very abundant in our daily environment. Thermoelectric technology is an alternative source in answering energy needs and can produce energy on a large and small scale. Thermoelectric technology works by converting heat energy into electricity directly, or from electricity to cold. This research presents an experimental study conducted to find out the thermoelectric characteristics of the TEC in the reversal function, with heating and cooling tests on each side of the TEC type thermoelectric element, carried out to obtain the voltage value as the electrical potential generated from this element. The result is thermoelectric potential to generate DC electricity but is very limited in the function of maintaining a heat source on the hot side element. This research then proposes thermal metamaterial that functions as a collector of thermal energy in the method of converting thermal energy into DC electrical energy for the application of low power consumption communication systems.