An analytical model for the influence of contact resistance on thermoelectric efficiency

Abstract

An analytical model is presented that can account for both electrical and hot and cold thermal contact resistances when calculating the efficiency of a thermoelectric generator. The model is compared to a numerical model of a thermoelectric leg, for 16 different thermoelectric materials, as well as the analytical models of Ebling et. al. (2010) and Min \& Rowe (1992). The model presented here is shown to accurately calculate the efficiency for all systems and all contact resistances considered, with an average difference in efficiency between the numerical model and the analytical model of $-0.07\pm0.35$ pp. This makes the model more accurate than previously published models. The maximum absolute difference in efficiency between the analytical model and the numerical model is 1.14 pp for all materials and all contact resistances considered.