2012/06/30 by Y. Apertet, Henni Ouerdane, H. Ouerdane +2 · 13 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices #Computer science #Electrical engineering #Engineering #Equivalent series resistance #Figure of merit #Geometry #Materials science #Mathematics #Optoelectronics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Series (stratigraphy) #Series and parallel circuits #Symmetry (geometry) #Term (time) #Thermal #Thermal properties of materials #Thermodynamics #Thermoelectric effect #Topology (electrical circuits) #Voltage #Work (physics) #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2014.12.077
published in Energy Conversion and Management 93, 160-165 (Elsevier BV)
arxiv created 2015/01/24 · openalex publication_date 2015/01/24 · arxiv updated 2015/01/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study the physical processes at work at the interface of two thermoelectric generators (TEGs) thermally and electrically connected in series. We show and explain how these processes impact on the system's performance: the derivation of the equivalent electrical series resistance yields a term whose physical meaning is thoroughly discussed. We demonstrate that this term must exist as a consequence of thermal continuity at the interface, since it is related to the variation of the junction temperature between the two TEGs associated in series as the electrical current varies. We then derive an expression for the equivalent series figure of merit. Finally we highlight the strong thermal/electrical symmetry between the parallel and series configurations and we compare our derivation with recent published results for the parallel configuration.