The effect of source and sink thermal resistance on thermoelectric generator performance

A static analysis of the thermoelectric generator is necessary in order to specify the electrical loading condition for maximum energy conversion efficiency and to determine the corresponding efficiency. Ioffe has done this for the simple case of a single p-n junction thermocouple, and his analysis has been extended to include the effect of temperature dependent parameters by Borrego, Lyden, and Blair.1,2 Harman has considered a cascade generator and has shown how its design can be optimized.3