ICT2014 Abstracts

There are many ways to experimentally characterize thermoelectric generator performance, but most methods provide an incomplete picture. The authors propose using the voltage-current (V-I) curves generated at two different thermal conditions to provide an estimation of maximum power, optimum efficiency, ZT of the device, and total thermal resistance outside of the thermoelectric material (due to ceramics and thermal interface materials). The two thermal conditions are both steady-state, electrically open in one case and electrically shorted in the other case, and the heat flow into the device is adjusted to keep the hot side and cold side temperatures the same in both thermal conditions. The V-I curves are generated by instantaneously changing the external electrical load such that the TEG doesn’t have time to thermally respond. After these two V-I curves are generated, the performance at any electrical condition can be predicted for the given hot side and cold side device temperatures. The authors present experimental data for two different device constructions as verification of this characterization method.