Hollow thermoelectric legs with extremely low power-generation cost compatible with scalable manufacturing

Abstract

Although thermoelectric systems offer advantages such as compactness, silent operation, absence of moving parts, and long-term reliability, their applicability is hindered by high power-generation costs ($/W). This study introduces hollow thermoelectric legs that achieve extremely low $/W while being compatible with existing scalable manufacturing processes. A sodium chloride rod was sintered together with thermoelectric materials and then dissolved to obtain the hollow structure. This unique structure enables reduced material consumption by 60 % (low $) as well as 230 % enhancement in power output (high W) leading to 83 % reduction in $/W over a conventional thermoelectric device with fully filled legs. The scalability of the manufacturing process for the proposed device was also verified by fabricating a thermoelectric module and evaluating its performance. The results achieved with the proposed device architecture highlight the potential for the commercialization of thermoelectric generators.