from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
Thermoelectric generators represent a unique way for recovering waste heat. Modules are made from specialized materials with thermoelectric properties. They represent cost-effective, simple, easy to maintain and reversible solution to handling any wasteful energy in the form of heat. Modules consist of many N and P semiconductor pairs connected in a series. These devices are very flexible and can be used as heaters, coolers or generators based on Peltier’s and Seebeck’s effects. With careful material selection it is possible to enforce or reduce the desired effect. The main disadvantage of thermoelectric modules is their low conversion efficiency. However, novel materials with significantly improved efficiency sparked renewed interest in these materials from scientific and commercial sectors. New and reliable procedure to measure thermoelectric properties, mainly Seebeck’s coefficient and electrical conductivity, is introduced in this submission. Our solution is cost-effective and easily reproducible because it is made from readily available and 3D printed parts. Our method uses a significant amount of calibration materials to achieve accuracy in wide range values for room temperature measurements. Materials based on SnSe alloy represent an ideal material for constructing thermoelectric modules and are characterized in this submission. Even low amounts of other elements used as dopants can significantly change physical properties of these alloys. It is even possible to get N and P type semiconductors using the same dopant with varying concentration. Both materials therefore have similar mechanical properties in a wide temperature range. Efficiency of these materials is adequate for typical thermoelectric materials.
Keywords: Seebeck’s coefficient, electrical conductivity, thermoelectric generator, semiconductor© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.