Abstract
We devised a novel method to evaluate the temperature-dependent effective properties of a thermoelectric module (TEM): Seebeck coefficient (S m ), internal electrical resistance (R m ) and thermal conductance (K m ). After calculation, the effective properties of the module are converted to the average material properties of a p-n thermoelectric pillar pair inside the module: Seebeck coefficient (S TE ), electrical resistivity (ρ TE ) and thermal conductivity (k TE ). For a commercial thermoelectric module (Altec 1091) chosen to verify the novel method, the measured S TE has a maximum value at bath temperature of 110 C; ρ TE shows a positive linear trend dependent on the bath temperature and k TE increases slightly with increasing bath temperature. The results show the method to have satisfactory measurement performance in terms of practicability and reliability; the data for tests near 23 C agree with published values. © 2013 TMS.