Realising the potential of thermoelectric technology: a Roadmap
Robert Freer,Anthony V. Powell +1 more
TLDR
In this paper, the authors present the science and technology that underpins thermoelectric generators (TEGs) and outline the key challenges associated with the development of new materials and devices that offer higher power output, while matching TE solutions to the wide range of applications that would benefit from energy harvesting.Abstract:
All machines from jet engines to microprocessors generate heat, as do manufacturing processes ranging from steel to food production. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are solid-state devices able to convert the resulting heat flux directly into electrical power. TEGs therefore have the potential to offer a simple, compact route to power generation in almost every industrial sector. Here, in a Roadmap developed with wide-ranging contributions from the UK Thermoelectric Network and international partners, we present the science and technology that underpins TEGs. We outline how thermoelectric (TE) technology capable of generating power outputs from microwatts to tens/hundreds kW, and potentially to MW, can have an impact across a wide range of applications in powering devices, ranging from medical to building monitoring, the internet of things, transportation and industrial sectors. The complementary application of TE technology in cooling affords additional opportunities in refrigeration and thermal management. Improved waste-heat harvesting and recovery and more efficient cooling offer significant opportunities to reduce energy usage and CO2 emissions. We provide an overview of the key challenges associated with the development of new materials and devices that offer higher power output, while matching TE solutions to the wide range of applications that would benefit from energy harvesting. There is an existing supply chain to develop, manufacture and integrate thermoelectric devices into a broad range of end-user sectors all with global market potential: the full realisation of which will require new state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques to be embraced in order to drive down costs through high-volume manufacturing to widen the application base.read more
Citations
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High Thermoelectric Performance in Two-Dimensional Janus Monolayer Material WS-X (X = Se and Te).
TL;DR: It is proposed that the Janus WSTe monolayer could be used as a potential thermoelectric material due to its high thermOElectric performance and first-principles calculations and semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory suggest that theJanus monolayers is a better candidate for excellent thermoeLECTric conversion.
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Emerging Indoor Photovoltaic Technologies for Sustainable Internet of Things
TL;DR: How indoor photovoltaics (IPV) constitutes an attractive energy harvesting solution, given its deployability, reliability, and power density is discussed and a range of IPV technologies developed to date are discussed, with an emphasis on their environmental sustainability.
Journal ArticleDOI
Thermoelectric materials and transport physics
Ning Jia,Jing Cao,Xian Yi Tan,Xian Yi Tan,Jinfeng Dong,Hongfei Liu,Chee Kiang Ivan Tan,Jianwei Xu,Qingyu Yan,Xian Jun Loh,Ady Suwardi,Ady Suwardi +11 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a broad picture of physically driven optimization strategies for thermoelectric materials, with emphasis on electronic transport aspect of inorganic materials, and discuss and analyzes various newly coined metrics such as quality factors, electronics quality factor, electronic fitness function, weighted mobility, and Fermi surface complexity factor.
Journal ArticleDOI
Thermal management of thermoelectric generators for waste energy recovery
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide considerations focused on thermal management of heat sources for the design of thermoelectric generators and methods to evaluate specific energy sources and prototypes are presented.
References
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BookDOI
CRC Handbook of Thermoelectrics
TL;DR: In this article, Rowe et al. proposed a method for reducing the thermal conductivity of a thermoelectric generator by reducing the carrier concentration of the generator, which was shown to improve the generator's performance.
Journal ArticleDOI
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Journal ArticleDOI
Efficiency of a Carnot engine at maximum power output
F. L. Curzon,B. Ahlborn +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the efficiency of a Carnot engine for the case where the power output is limited by the rates of heat transfer to and from the working substance was analyzed, and it was shown that the efficiency at maximum power output was given by the expression η = 1 − (T2/T1)1/2 where T1 and T2 are the respective temperatures of the heat source and heat sink.