Journal of South China University of Technology (Natural Science Edition) ›› 2013, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4): 54-57.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-565X.2013.04.009

• Power & Electrical Engineering • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Estimation Method of Maximum Output Power of Thermoelectric Modules

Gao Jun-ling1 Du Qun-gui1 Shi Gui-ju2   

  1. 1.School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering,South China University of Technology,Guangzhou 510640,Guangdong,China;2.Graduate School,Hebei University of Science and Technology,Shijiazhuang 050018,Hebei,China
  • Received:2011-12-16 Revised:2012-12-08 Online:2013-04-25 Published:2013-03-01
  • Contact: 高俊岭(1963-)，男，博士生，河北科技大学教授，主要从事半导体热电技术及应用研究． E-mail:gaojunling66@163.com
  • About author:高俊岭(1963-)，男，博士生，河北科技大学教授，主要从事半导体热电技术及应用研究．
  • Supported by:

    广东省重大科技专项项目( 2009A080302002， 2010A080405003) ; 广东省教育部产学研结合项目( 2011B090400572)

PDF

792

Abstract:

The maximum output power of a thermoelectric module ( TEM) can be estimated according to the opencircuit voltage and the short circuit current under certain temperature difference. As there are two switch modes,namely the mode from open to short circuit and the mode from short to open circuit,there may exist two groups ofopen circuit voltage and short circuit current.Consequently,under identical temperature difference,the maximumoutput powers of TEM in the two modes are different from each other,and the difference varies with the temperaturegap between the hot and the cold sides.This paper deals with such power difference based on theoretical analysisand points out that the power difference is due to the variable electromotive potential caused by the current varyingwith the switch mode.Moreover,a computation method to reduce the power difference is put forward.Experimentalresults show that the proposed method greatly improves the estimation accuracy of maximum output power of TEM.

Key words: thermoelectric module, maximum output power, value estimation method, open circuit voltage, shortcircuit current