本篇論文主要是探討利用熱電器將熱能轉換成電能，對鎳氫電池充電，並且供無線電和生理感應器電源使用之可行性。本研究利用市面上常用的制冷片(Thermal Cooler)，在它的熱板使用電熱片加熱，與冷板間產生溫差，進而產生電能。此產生的電能除了能供應無線電傳輸平台運作外，並對鎳氫電池充電。從實驗結果來看，在低溫環境下(<500K)，30~40 ℃的溫差，熱電發電的效率不高，嚴重的限制熱電發電的應用領域。利用體溫與外界溫度的溫差，由於體溫與氣溫的溫度差不大，使用一般熱電制冷片發電以供應醫療感測器和無線傳輸平台是非常困難。除非採用客製化高密度的熱偶合熱電發電機以及搭配低功率的醫療感測器與無線傳輸平台，但這將造成很高的成本而無法大量施行。但從此實驗可以得到當兩個熱電發電機串連時，相同的輸出電壓時，需要的溫度差可以有效的降低。這或許是另一種可行的方法。This paper investigates the feasibility of sensors and wireless transmission powered by thermoelectric generator whose power can charge Ni-MH battery. This research used a thermal cooler and applied heat on the hot plate to produce a difference of temperature between the hot and cold plate. The generated electrical power was used for wireless platform operation and battery charging. According to the results of experiment, the efficiency of thermoelectric generator (TEG) under low temperature condition (<500K) is quite low and therefore limits the application of thermoelectric generator unless customized high density thermopiles and very low power consumption wireless sensor platform were used. However, the disadvantage of this customized high density thermopiles is the high cost for commercial application. From our experiments, we also discovered the output voltage is same as that of a TEG when two TEGs were connected in series to generate electrical power, but the temperature difference of the hot and cold plate of the TEG was effectively lower. This result implies a feasible approach for future application.
