Optimal Pellet Geometries for Thermoelectric Power Generation

The geometry of the semiconductor pellets within thermoelectric modules (TEMs) operating in generation mode is optimized in order to maximize their performance (i.e., power that they can generate) or efficiency at a specified performance and load. The analysis is first performed in the absence of electrical contact resistance at the interconnects in a TEM and then in its presence. Implications of the analysis are placed in context for representative conditions. It applies for a prescribed temperature difference across a TEM that is sufficiently small for the properties of its semiconductor pellets to be considered constant.