A thermoelectric module thermal-cycling testing platform with automated measurement capabilities

Abstract

Thermoelectric Modules (TEM) are used in areas such as precision temperature control applications, cooling system, energy harvesting, etc. The fully characterization of TEM is very important, mainly with respect to its degradation. In order to evaluate degradation, thermal cycling application is one of the most used methods. In this work it is described a complete thermal-cycling testing platform of TEM that is capable of measuring parameters such as Seebeck coefficient (α), thermal conductivity (λ), Figure of Merit (ZT) and others in an automatic way. Experimental results show the effectivity of the proposed testing platform.