Past exam of the MPhil in micro- and nanotechnology enterprise course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / Paper 1 / Section A(iii) / 6 / i / Solution

A thermoelectric generator uses the Seebeck effect: a maintained temperature difference across suitable conductors produces an open-circuit electromotive force. For a pair of legs,when the effective Seebeck coefficient is approximately constant. Repeated p- and n-type legs are usually connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel.

Connecting a load lets part of the heat flowing from the hot side to the cold side become electrical power. Both a heat source and a cold-side heat-removal path are necessary: a uniformly warm device with no maintained temperature difference supplies no sustained output. Internal electrical resistance, heat leakage, contact losses and the finite temperature difference reduce the harvested power; the converter is a heat engine rather than a source of energy from temperature alone.