Design of Energy Harvesters on Motorcycle Exhaust using Thermoelectric Generator for Power Supply Electronic Device

One of the excess energies in the environment is motorcycle exhaust gas. Motorcycles with internal combustion engines produce energy waste where around 40% of the fuel energy is wasted in the form of heat energy through the exhaust to the environment. Various research studies to utilize the heat of motorcycle exhaust have been conducted, but the electric voltage generated is still below 5V. Therefore, it is not enough to be used as a power source for electronic devices using Universal Serial Bus (USB). This study aims to design an energy harvesting system using two modules of TEG TE-MOD-10W4V-40 that are organized in series and mounted on a motorcycle exhaust. The design of the device includes the construction of the heat exchanger, the boost converter circuit, and the charger box. The test results show that the maximum electrical voltage is successfully generated in a no-load condition of 4.2V with a temperature difference of 57 degrees C. The design of the device is able to charge electronic devices such as speakers, smartphones, and tablets with an output voltage of 5.2V. The time needed since the motorcycle engine started to reach a constant voltage was 3 minutes.