A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit structure includes forming active regions, forming source/drain regions, and forming conductive segments resulting in a thermoelectric structure including a p-type region positioned on a front side of the substrate, an n-type region positioned on the front side of the substrate, and a wire on the front side of the substrate configured to electrically couple the p-type region to the n-type region. The method includes forming a first via configured to thermally couple the p-type region to a first power structure on a back side of the substrate, forming a second via configured to thermally couple the n-type region to a second power structure on the back side of the substrate, and electrically coupling an energy device to each of the first and second power structures.

With a thermo-siphon type heat exchanger including a heating section of and a heat transfer pipe of a thermoelectric power generation unit, the thermoelectric power generator recovers a heat from a hot gas flowing through a flow path and generates electricity. To the thermo-siphon type heat exchanger, a storage tank that stores a heat medium is connected in a communication state; transferring of the heat medium from the thermo-siphon type heat exchanger to the storage tank, and returning of the heat medium from the storage tank to the thermo-siphon type heat exchanger can adjust the heat medium amount in the thermo-siphon type heat exchanger. At least a part of the storage tank is placed in the flow path so that the stored heat medium is heated, and the stored heat medium can be cooled with a cooler that is capable of turning a cooling function ON/OFF.

An mobile solar powered EV charging station consists of an inflatable solar concentrator based hybrid solar thermal and photovoltaic subsystem with thermoelectric activated thermal storage to store thermal storage and regenerate electric power; a battery bank subsystem to store the cogenerated electric energy from the hybrid solar thermal and photovoltaic subsystem; an electric driving subsystem to make the entire system mobile; and a control subsystem to coordinate all of the subsystem to work. The mobile EV charging station is not only able to generate electric power locally to charge EVs, but also able to transport power from solar powered EV changing station network and power grid to the sites where EVs are located.

A multi-stage cascaded thermoelectrical cooler (TEC) package is used in conjunction with an air cooling system to control temperature of battery cells in a battery module such that the temperature differences stay within a predetermined range. Battery cells in the battery module are divided into one or more regular sections and one or more TEC enhancing sections. A regular section and a TEC enhancing section can use different types of battery cell holders to assemble the battery cells. TECs in the TEC package are integrated into each enhancing section, where each stage of the TEC package is attached to one or more battery cells in a different region of the enhancing section. A higher stage, which is more powerful in enhancing heat transfer and extracting heat from battery cells, is attached to one or more battery cells in a section closer to the air outlet. The TEC package is powered by a discharging convertor circuit of the battery module.

A waste heat gathering and transfer system and method that, in certain embodiments, includes a collector for collecting at least a portion of waste heat dissipating from one or more waste heat sources, such as equipment surfaces and flames, a heat-to-electricity converter; and an electricity-to-grid transfer interface. In some instances, the system and method also include an electric-to-grid optimizer. In some embodiments, the heat-to-electricity converter is a semiconductor-based converter. In other embodiments, the heat-to-electricity converter is an organic rankine cycle. In some instances, the heat collector includes an external collector layer with an inner and outer surface, an internal collector layer with an internal and external surface, an interior gap area between the external collector layer inner surface and the internal collector layer internal surface, an insulating material, a heat collecting component, and a heat transfer component.

A ventilation module can be used with a ventilation seat for a vehicle. A thermoelectric air-conditioning part has a thermoelectric unit performing heat absorption and heat generation by using a Peltier effect when electric power is applied, a cooling unit provided at a first side of the thermoelectric unit, and a heat dissipation unit provided at a second side of the thermoelectric unit. The module is configured so that air that is supplied from a blower is cooled by the thermoelectric air-conditioning part, passes through a cooling fin of the cooling unit, and is discharged to an interior of the vehicle through a seat cushion. The module is configured so that air that is supplied from the blower is heated by the thermoelectric air-conditioning part, passes through a heat dissipating fin of the heat dissipation unit, and is discharged through the heat dissipation path.

A method of manufacturing a photothermal conversion element includes preparing a solid material and forming a processed region processed by irradiation of the solid material with a laser beam. The forming includes grain refining the solid material to blacken the processed region.

Thermo-electric generator which is intended to be immersed in a fluid which contains at least one chemical species, comprising two electrodes each having a first end and a second end, the first ends being connected to each other, the generator being configured to generate an electrical voltage between the two ends when a temperature difference is imposed between each first end and the corresponding second end, the temperature difference being such that one end, referred to as the “hot end”, of each electrode has a temperature which is strictly greater than the temperature of the other end. The hot end of at least one electrode comprises a micro-organism or an enzyme which is capable of causing at least one exothermic reaction involving the chemical species.

A linear motor is disclosed, the linear motor comprising a longitudinal coil assembly comprising coil units arranged in a cascading manner and a magnet track spaced from the coil assembly, and adapted to move along a path which traces a periphery of the coil assembly. The linear motor further comprises sensors, each sensor being associated with a subset of the coil units, and adapted to send a first sensor signal in response to detecting the magnet track. The linear motor further comprises a control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to receive the first sensor signal, identify the sensor which sent the first sensor signal, and power up the subset of the coil units associated with the sensor.

An apparatus is provided for generating an electrical current from a temperature differential in an ablutionary fitting. A heat transfer plate includes a projection directly contacting water carried in a first region of the fitting. A thermoelectric module includes one or more thermoelectric elements thermally coupled between the heat transfer plate and a housing of the ablutionary fitting in a second region of the ablutionary fitting. The thermoelectric elements generate electricity from a temperature differential between water carried in the first and second regions of the ablutionary fitting.