Patent ID: 8432064

Claim:
An energy saving circuit for providing power to a load, said circuit comprising: a pair of thermoelectric generators (TEGs), each coupled to a heat source for converting thermal energy from said heat source into electrical energy; a pair of capacitors arranged in parallel, each capacitor coupled to one of the TEGs, for storing the electrical energy generated by said TEG to which the capacitor is coupled; a power converter; a first switching element coupled between a first capacitor in the pair of capacitors and the power converter; a second switching element coupled between a second capacitor in the pair of capacitors and the power converter; and a monitor/controller coupled to said first and second switching elements and each of said capacitors in said pair of capacitors for selectively and alternatively switching the first and second switching elements in order to provide power from the power converter to the load, wherein the monitor/controller will switch between the first and second switching elements based upon charge levels measured at the pair of capacitors.