Influence of electrical current variance and thermal resistances on optimum working conditions and geometry for thermoelectric energy harvesting

Recent reports on enhanced thermoelectric figure of merits based on nanoscale effects have revived interest in potential applications of thermoelectric modules for waste heat recovery and distributed power generation. However, studies of optimized working conditions have not been thoroughly investigated. The majority of the previous studies on optimum load resistance for maximum power output or maximum efficiency assume temperatures at the ends of thermoelectric materials are known and constant. In reality, temperature should be determined by the energy conservation equations, which are functions of the load resistance, as well as the thermal resistances of the heat source, heat sink, and contact pads. This work exploits a numerical method to determine the actual temperature of thermoelectric materials, and optimum working conditions for thermoelectric energy harvesting are presented. The proposed model considers the effect of thermal resistances between a thermoelectric module and heat reservoirs, and the electrical current variation with respect to load resistance. The optimum condition for load resistance ratio was observed to occur at larger values than those obtained from traditional optimization work. Additionally, optimum geometry for a thermoelectric module is suggested for energy harvesting methods, where forced convection or oversized heat sinks cannot be used. Experimental results obtained from a commercial thermoelectric module are also presented to validate the proposed model. This work forms a basis to predict optimum working conditions in various thermoelectric energy harvesting applications. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.