An analytical model for the influence of contact resistance on thermoelectric efficiency

TL;DR

This paper introduces an analytical model that accurately predicts thermoelectric generator efficiency by incorporating contact resistances, outperforming previous models in precision across various materials.

Contribution

The paper presents a new analytical model that accounts for both electrical and thermal contact resistances, improving accuracy over existing models for thermoelectric efficiency calculations.

Findings

The model accurately predicts efficiency with an average difference of -0.07±0.35 percentage points.

Maximum efficiency difference between model and numerical simulation is 1.14 percentage points.

The model is validated across 16 different thermoelectric materials.

Abstract

An analytical model is presented that can account for both electrical and hot and cold thermal contact resistances when calculating the efficiency of a thermoelectric generator. The model is compared to a numerical model of a thermoelectric leg, for 16 different thermoelectric materials, as well as the analytical models of Ebling et. al. (2010) and Min \& Rowe (1992). The model presented here is shown to accurately calculate the efficiency for all systems and all contact resistances considered, with an average difference in efficiency between the numerical model and the analytical model of $-0.07\pm0.35$ pp. This makes the model more accurate than previously published models. The maximum absolute difference in efficiency between the analytical model and the numerical model is 1.14 pp for all materials and all contact resistances considered.