A novel method to rapidly determine the key properties of thermoelectric devices

Abstract

This article presents a novel method to determine the representative properties of a thermoelectric module (TEM). The method, by applying a constant current to a thermoelectric module then measuring the module's transient voltage and both sides temperatures, could rapidly determine the module's effective properties. The properties include Seebeck coefficient (S), electrical resistance (R), and thermal conductance (K). A commercial module, Altec1091, had been measured in this study, the test data shows a good agreement with previous literatures results. © 2012 IEEE.