A Review on Thermoelectric Devices

Abstract

A Thermoelectric Device (TE) is made up of dissimilar conducting materials that take a tem- perature dierence (waste heat) and converts it to electrical power. In addition, depending on the direction of the current ow, a TE can also be used for heating/cooling. The reason why TEs are able to provide heating/cooling and be a source of electrical power is due to the Seebeck and Peltier eect. Due to TEs only having a ZT, figure of merit, value of one a lot of eort is being put into finding materials that could improve the improve the figure of merit. This paper reviews how the TEs are implemented in current applications.