Shadow‐Thermoelectric System for Enhancing Solar Energy Harvesting and Touchless Human‐Machine Interface

Abstract Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are one of the most promising means of harvesting energy from the sun. However, the TEGs require a significant temperature difference to generate electricity, making it challenging to achieve high power output from solar radiation alone. Here, shadow‐effect generators (SEGs) are connected with TEGs to form a shadow‐thermoelectric system (STS), which exploits the natural shadow produced by the TEG to enhance the electrical power output by solar energy conversion. With the shadow enhancement, the open‐circuit voltage of the STS is significantly increased by a factor of 115 compared to that of the single TEG. Furthermore, the STSs array is successfully combined with a photoelectrochemical cell to convert the intermittent solar energy into storable hydrogen energy. In addition, the STS can be applied as a touchless self‐powered sensor which provides a useful control panel for human‐machine interface (HMI). After combining the STS with signal processing circuits, the STS can control a virtual vehicle on computer smartly. In conclusion, STS is a promising design for energy harvesting and touchless self‐powered sensing. This research provides valuable insights for the development of efficient solar energy conversion and new possibilities for HMI.