This work presents the prototype of the solar - thermoelectric device, which can float on water surface. It produces electrical energy as a result of the Seebeck effect in a commercial, low-cost Peltier module. The main application of the device will be an autonomous and a floating measurement platform. An important advantage of the presented solution is the possibility to work alike at day, when a solar light heats the surface of the absorber, and at night, when the different of temperatures between air and water causes the heat flux and in an effect the electricity. The device is capable of working for many cloudy days and also in winter on very short days. The presented device is based on low-cost and widely available components.
This paper presents the concept of an autonomous measuring instrument powered by a locally accessible source of heat with a contact surface area of over a dozen or several dozen cm 2 and a temperature higher or lower than the ambient temperature. The design and construction of the measuring device will be based on two modules developed and constructed in the course of previous work: a dedicated low-power thermoelectric generator and luminescent fiber-optic detector. The system can be additional equipped with a wireless transmission module. The studies show that, due to the power supply and photoluminescent measurement system with high stability of the operating point, this device will be capable of continuous operation without maintenance for many months.
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