Generation Of Electricity through Solar cell and

Thermocouples with selling power back to Grid

Abdullah Ansari, Azam Rafique, Arsalan Bhatti
1
Student, Department of Electronics & Biomedical Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology,
Jamshoro Pakistan
abdullah_ansari2@hotmail.com

Abstract— This Project explains ways to generate Electric II. ELECTRICITY GENERATION METHODS VIA SOLAR
Power by using two different Solid State devices, their CELLS AND THERMOCOUPLES
comparison and selling the power thus generated back to
Grids. The methods defined below include Generation of A. Solar Cell(Method 1):
Green Energy from Solar cell and by thermocouples (through The mentioned techniques for generating electricity have
sunlight or any kind of heat source) and net metering concept their own strengths and weaknesses. Two popular
of selling electricity. approaches using two sensors have been discussed. One of
them is Photo-Voltaic method. As the name implies, Photo-
Keywords- Solar cell; Themocouples; Green Energry, net
Voltaic method involve conversion of light energy into direct
metering, heat
voltage. Photons present in the sunlight when strikes the
I. INTRODUCTION surface of Photovoltaic (solar) cell, extracts electrons out of
it which flows freely into the medium (wire). [3]
Generation of Electricity involves Processing that
converts a form of energy into electrical energy. It means we
need more and more natural resources to generate electricity
in the time when energy crises are increasing with the
passage of time. Electricity is being generated from Various
Ways such as Water (Hydral), Solar, Thermal, Nuclear
Sources etc.
Among the above defined sources of energy, most of the
resources except Sunlight and Heat have limitations. Solar
cells Generate cheap and green electricity from sunlight.
Solar electricity systems capture the sun's energy using
photovoltaic (PV) cells. The cells convert the sunlight into
electricity, which can be used to run household appliances
and lighting. Solar energy makes much sense for Pakistan
for several reasons: firstly, 70% of the population lives in
50,000 villages that are very far away from the national grid,
according to a report by the Solar Energy Research Center
(SERC). [10]
While Thermocouples uses thermal energy to generate
voltages. It basically involve two metals with different
Figure 1. Method of Generating Electricity from Solar Cell
thermal co-efficient so that if one becomes source (for
providing free electrons), other acts as sink. Figure 1 explains the phenomenon of generating electric
More over we can’t only generate our own power but to current from Solar Energy. One must note that the current
sell it to power producing companies with the concept of net thus obtained is DC and it has to be converted into AC in
metering. [5] order to turn AC devices on. More over a single solar cell
cannot produce more than few volts of Electricity; we use
Hence in a Country where Power Crises are one of the solar panels that contain series of solar cells to generate a
gigantic problems, this project may be revolutionary in two meaningful amount of energy with the efficiency of 17
senses. One to generate one’s own electricity and second percent. [2]
more interesting is to sell the power back to stations so that
some one other can utilize it and you decrease the amount of
electricity bills.
B. Thermocouples/Thermopiles(METHOD 2): III. SELLING POWER TO GRID STATIONS

The combination of two different types of metals as
shown in figure 2 with a joint junction that senses the
temperature changes between the metal plates and generate
the voltage difference accordingly. In order to generate a
useful amount of voltage, we need Thermo-Electric
Generators (TEGS).
This might be an interesting and cumbersome process but
can bring huge changes in systems of our country. This
process is called Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs). [5]
To make this system work in Pakistan, we need to
understand the concepts of Smart grids and Net-metering.
A smart grid is a form of electricity network utilizing
digital technology. It comes with an information and net
metering system, which includes smart meters, as shown in
Figure 4. [4]

Figure 2. Construction of Thermocouples

TEGs are made from thermoelectric modules which are

solid-state integrated circuits that employ three established
thermoelectric effects known as the Peltier, Seebeck and
Thomson effects. It is the Seebeck effect that is responsible
for electrical power generation. Their construction consists
of pairs of p-type and n-type semiconductor materials Figure 4. Smart Grid Network
forming a thermocouple. These thermocouples are then
connected electrically forming an array of multiple
thermocouples (thermopile). They are then sandwiched
between two thin ceramic wafers, as shown in Figure 3 [2] “Net metering” is the simplest way to setup a grid-tie
system. In such a system you only have one utility kWh
meter and it is allowed to spin in either direction depending
on if you are buying or selling energy. In a non net-metered
system, the utility company will require that you install a
second kWh meter to record any excess energy that you sell
back to them, as shown in Figure 5.[6]

Figure 3. Series of thermocouples

These thermocouples are then connected electrically in

series and/or parallel forming an array of multiple
thermocouples (thermopile). When heat and cold are applied
this device then generates electricity. Almost any heat source
can be used to generate electricity, such as solar heat, ocean
heat, geothermal heat, even body heat! In addition the Figure 5. Selling Power to Grids
efficiency of any device or machine that generates heat as a
by-product can be drastically improved by recovering the
energy lost as heat.
The concept of net-metering can be visualized from Figure
6.

Figure 6. System to sell Power to Grid
IV. PROJECT OBJECTIVES
• To design a prototype based on the generating cheap
and useful electricity through different ways for
individual use.
• To utilize maximum amount of heat wasted in
factories and industries.
• To aware the entrepreneurs to use maximum of these
unlimited energy source like sunlight.
• To make most of the persons in my country to have
their own small power stations for homes and
offices.
• To have Collective bargaining between Power
Supply companies and Consumers (As both sit
together and set the prices per unit in a two way
process).
V. SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT
Our project is to find out different ways of generating
electricity and selling it to grids in order to remove a rift
between consumers and Electric supply companies.
One significant advantage of this application is that the
system helps users to have their own electricity generation
stores and hence have no worries for electricity bills and
load-shading.
VI. EQUIPMENTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS
A. For Solar Electricity:
In order to generate electricity directly from sunlight we
need following equipments:
1) Photo-Voltaic sensor (Solar cell):
A solar cell is a semi-conductor (Solid State) device that
converts the energy of sunlight directly into electricity by the
photovoltaic effect. Assemblies of cells are used to make
solar modules, also known as solar panels, as shown in
Figure 7.
Photovoltaic is the field of technology and research
related to the practical application of photovoltaic cells in
producing electricity from light, though it is often used
specifically to refer to the generation of electricity from
sunlight. [1]
Figure 7. A solar cell panel made from a monocrystalline silicon wafer
2) Inverter
An inverter is an electrical device that converts direct
current (DC) to alternating one (AC); the converted AC can
be at any required voltage and frequency with the use of
appropriate transformers, switching, and control circuits.
Static inverters have no moving parts and are used in a
wide range of applications, from small switching power
supplies in computers, to large electric utility high-voltage
direct current applications that transport bulk power.
Inverters are commonly used to supply AC power from DC
sources such as solar panels or batteries. [4]
Figure 8. An Inverter
Inverter designed to provide 115 VAC from the 12 VDC
source provided in an automobile. The unit shown in Figure
6 provides up to 1.2 amperes of alternating current, or
enough to power two sixty watt light bulbs. [4]
3. Leads or wires to send the power to destination
4. Battery to store the power

B. For Electricity From Thermocouples:
Electricity from thermocouple can be generated by the
similar mechanism; the components required for generating
electricity are shown below:
• Thermocouples
• Leads or wires
• Heat sink
• Inverter
VII. RESULTS AND COMPARISON
• One 165 watt Sharp PV panel produces 0.6 kWh
of electricity per day. One 25 watt TEG also
produces 0.6 kWh of electricity per day (with a
continuous heat source) day or night. [2]
• The costs of solar and thermoelectric generators
based on the amount of electricity they actually
produce per day, tells that TEGs cost far less per
kWh than solar! The PV (photovoltaic)
equivalent of 50 watt TEG operating on a wood
stove is 330 watt or 1.2 kWh per day. This
means using just 3 of 50 watt TEGs can produce
the same amount of electricity in a day as 990
watts of solar PV panels. If comparing costs, the
price range for 990 watts of solar would be
$2,500 to $5,000 depending on the particular
brand. Whereas the cost for 3 of 50 watt TEGs
can range from $750 to about $1100 depending
on the volume purchased. [2]
• Unlike solar TEGs is not dependant on the sun
to producing electric power. If you have a heat
source they can produce power 24/7-365!
Granted you will need a cheap or free source of
heat, but if you already have an existing heat
source such as a wood stove or hot flu gases
there is no added fuel cost to run the TEG!
Unlike conventional electric generators powered
by fossil fuels. [2]
• TEGs have no moving parts to break or
maintenance to perform, (with the exception of
maintaining coolant level and changing the
circulating pump every 2 to 3 years on water
cooled models). They are virtually silent and
rated to last more than 200,000 hours of
continuous operation! [2]
VIII. IMPLEMENTATION IN PAKISTAN
A. Solar Cell:
• Solar Panels have been used in several areas of
Pakistan to Generate Electricity.
• The areas are Thar dessert, Villages near Thatta
and Rawalpindi.[8]
• Project for “Community Solar Dryer for Drying
Dates” started at Jun 2005 and completed in
March 2008 worth Rs 10.656 bill [10]
• Development of Low Power High Intensity
Solar Lights
• Projects have started by NGO’s Providing solar
Electricity to Flood and Earthquake affected
areas[7]
B. Thermocouples:
• Used as Power Generators In NASA but not in
Pakistan.
• Thermocouple was used to drive the radio by
Prof Masood Anwar of Gordon College
Pakistan, the heat source was Hookah.[9]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We gratefully acknowledge the supervisor of our project
Sir Ghulam Mustafa and Madam Attiya Baqai for their kind
help and giving us a start to write this research paper.
It is all due to Allah’s blessings and Continuous
Suggestions by our supervisor that we have completed our
first research paper.
REFERENCES
[1] http://www.google.com/
[2] http://www.TEGpower.com/
[3] www.youtube.com/Solar electricity
[4] www.wikipedia.org
[5] http://www.sellmyelectricity.co.uk/
[6] http://www.mywindpowersystem.com/2009/09/selling-electricity-
back-to-the-grid-selling-power-back-to-the-grid-selling-energy-back-
to-the-grid
[7] http://pakistaniat.com/2009/02/17/utilizing-solar-energy-in-pakistan/
[8] http://www.siemens.com.pk/solarpower.html
[9] Masood Anwar, “Popular Science" Magazine, P#156 Nov 1960
[10] http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/02/solar-energy-for-sunny-
pakistan.html