Abstract
The influence of electrical and thermal contact resistance on the efficiency of a segmented thermoelectric generator is investigated. We consider 12 different segmented p-legs and 12 different segmented n-legs, using eight different p-type and eight different n-type thermoelectric materials. For all systems, a universal influence of both the electrical and thermal contact resistance is observed on the leg’s efficiency, when the systems are analyzed in terms of the contribution of the contact resistance to the total resistance of the leg. The results are compared with the analytical model of Min and Rowe. In order for the efficiency not to decrease by more than 20%, the contact electrical resistance should be less than 30% of the total leg resistance for zero thermal contact resistance, while the thermal contact resistance should be less than 20% for zero electrical contact resistance. The universal behavior also allowed the maximum tolerable contact resistance for a segmented system to be found, i.e., the resistance at which a leg of only the high-temperature thermoelectric material has the same efficiency as the segmented leg with a contact resistance at the interface. If, e.g., segmentation increases the efficiency by 30%, then an electrical contact resistance of 30% or a thermal contact resistance of 20% can be tolerated.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment, The Danish Council for Strategic Research for sponsoring the “Oxide thermoelectrics for effective power generation from waste heat” (OTE-POWER) (Project No. 10-093971) Project as well as the “CTEC - Center for Thermoelectric Energy Conversion” (Project No. 1305-00002B) Project. The author also wish to thank the European Commission for sponsoring the “Nano-carbons for versatile power supply modules” (NanoCaTe) (FP7-NMP Project No. 604647) Project.
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Bjørk, R. The Universal Influence of Contact Resistance on the Efficiency of a Thermoelectric Generator. J. Electron. Mater. 44, 2869–2876 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3731-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3731-7