Current Trends in Improving the Efficiency of Thermoelectric Generators

The main directions of increasing the efficiency of thermoelectric generators (TEG) were considered. Compositions and methods of producing thermoelectric materials (TEM) with an increased value of thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT), including nanostructured materials, were proposed. It was shown that to increase the efficiency of TEG in addition to obtaining TEM with ZT ≥ 1, it is necessary to increase the interval of TEG operating temperatures. This is possible by two methods. The first method is to produce multisectional legs of thermoelement (TE). Each section works in certain temperature interval. Such sections are manufactured from TEM having a maximum thermoelectric figure of merit at these temperatures. The second method is to produce thermoelectric modules from various TEM. When implementing the first method, which is the subject of this research, it is possible to create more efficient TEGs. The problems of creating efficient multi-sectional TE and ways of solving them were considered.