Numerical Modeling of Thermoelectric Generators With Varing Material Properties in a Circuit Simulator

When a thermoelectric generator (TEG) and its external load circuitry are considered together as a system, the codesign and co-optimization of the electronics and the device are crucial in maximizing the system efficiency. In this paper, an accurate TEG model is proposed and implemented in a SPICE-compatible environment. This model of thermoelectric battery accounts for all temperature-dependent characteristics of the thermoelectric materials to include the nonlinear voltage, current, and electrothermal coupled effects. It is validated with simulation data from the recognized program ANSYS and experimental data from a real thermoelectric device, respectively. Within a common circuit simulator, the model can be easily connected to various electrical models of applied loads to predict and optimize the system performance.