Empirical proof of concept for TE generation in mobile computers

Thermoelectric (TE) module integration into a mobile computer has been experimentally investigated in this paper for its energy harvesting opportunities. For this purpose, a detailed Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model was constructed for thermal simulations. The model outputs were then correlated with the thermal validation results of the target system. A suitable “warm spot” has been selected, based on the FEA model, to integrate a commercial TE micro-module inside the system with minimum or no notable impact to the system performance, as measured by thermal changes in the system. The prediction was validated by integrating a TE micro-module to the mobile system under test. Measured TE power generation power density in the carefully selected region of the heat pipe was around 1.26 mW/cm3 with high CPU load and no notable degradation in system performance.