More than half reduction in price per watt of thermoelectric device without increasing the thermoelectric figure of merit of materials

More than half reduction in price per watt of thermoelectric device without increasing the thermoelectric figure of merit of materials

In a power generation system, the price per watt ($/W) is an important parameter to be considered for checking the feasibility for practical implementation. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate that $/W of a thermoelectric device can be reduced to around 60%. The conventional approach to reducing $/W in thermoelectrics is to enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) of the thermoelectric materials used, which can increase the power output (W). We propose that $/W can be reduced by lowering the material consumption ($) with a slight sacrifice in power output by changing the device architecture. A simple calculation suggests that zT ∼ 6 is needed for such a reduction in $/W based on the conventional approach. This method can be accompanied by a search for high-zT material so that further reduction in $/W can be achieved with efficient thermoelectric materials.

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