Abstract
•Analytical modeling on how to calculate thermoelectric effective material properties.•Effective material properties obtained from the manufacturer maximum parameters.•The accuracy of model is validated experimentally as well as manufacturers’ data.•Effective material properties improve thermoelectric ideal equations’ accuracy.•Contact resistances and Thomson effects analysis aren’t needed to improve accuracy.
Non-standardized forms of performance data is an issue designers encounter when dealingwith thermoelectric module manufacturers. To assess a product’s performance, experimental methods can be used as well as analytical modeling by using the material properties that are not usually revealed. The latter investigates theories using the guidelines given by the manufacturers. After analyzing the theories, the values are used to assess the performances of the thermoelectric modules. The samples then go through experimental testing to insure their validity. Finally, the analytical, experimental, and manufacturer-provided results are compared to find a common ground. The results shows good agreement where the most of the errors are less than 1%.