Talk:Thermoelectric generator

Merge
"Thermogenerator" is kind of an odd term. I don't think I've ever seen it before in English. If you do a google search on it, the majority of the scant 13,000 uses are by Germans (compare to 2.3 million for "thermoelectric"), so I think it's fair to say that this may not be a very apt headword for the English-language wikipedia.

The second sentence states that it's specifically a Seebeck-effect heat engine, but those are usually called "thermoelectrics." Most commonly, the more generic device for extracting power of any type from heat is known as a "heat engine." If "thermogenerator" means anything in English, and I don't think it does in any widely accepted sense, I think it would have to mean a generic heat engine that produces electricity rather than specifically a TE generator, because of course we already have a whole different word for that. Also, TE devices aren't really considered "current sources" in the conventional sense either. Usually, if something is called a "voltage source" that implies controlled voltage with the current determined by load, and "current source" implies the current is controlled and the voltage determined by load. It goes without saying that any electrical power source outputs both current and voltage; otherwise it wouldn't produce any power at all. So by conventional usage, TEs are better regarded as voltage sources (voltage determined by the Seebeck coefficient and temperature) than current sources. If you don't believe me, I'll be happy to whip out my unusually real and verifiable PhD in electrical engineering, or just point out the wikipedia current source article.

At any rate, I would recommend merging this into thermoelectricity or one of the other related articles, if not deleting it entirely, since the content is very sparse, not particularly accurate, and full of language errors. Tarchon 21:16, 14 March 2007 (UTC)


 * IMHO "thermoelectric generator" (compare e.g. radioisotope thermoelectric generator) would be the appropriate term. "Thermoelectric" alone is more general and may stand both for a cooling device (Peltier cooler) or a thermoelectric power generator. --84.159.109.143 (non-native/german speaking occasional wikipedia user)


 * Yeah, if we were creating a new headword, "thermoelectric generator" would be a better way to go, but I'm more talking about why this article shouldn't be called what it's called and why it probably shouldn't be here at all. As it is, the thermoelectric effect article seems to do a good job of covering cooling and generation together (which is the usual textbook approach too). Really, I think "Seebeck effect generator" would be the most accurate term for this particular article as it stands now. Tarchon 21:48, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Today the page was moved from "Thermogenerator" to "Thermoelectric generator". --Steve (talk) 02:26, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Merge from Thermoelectric Modules
The suggested merge article describes waste heat energy recovery which is mentioned here as an application. One strong article is better than two stubs. --Wtshymanski (talk) 14:47, 14 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree. The material from the Thermoelectric Modules article will need a lot of re-writing and extra research, right now it's based purely on press releases a couple short news articles, and is very confused and misleading. --Steve (talk) 15:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Ref 10, first: dead link
Ref 10, first: dead link — Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.64.77.102 (talk) 14:08, 16 April 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Thermoelectric generator. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20121217031344/http://www.thermoelectric-generator.com:80/ultra_high_temperature_teg_power_modules.htm to http://www.thermoelectric-generator.com/ultra_high_temperature_teg_power_modules.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20121023142700/http://www.espressomilkcooler.com:80/complete_thermoelectric_generators_assemblies.htm to http://www.espressomilkcooler.com/complete_thermoelectric_generators_assemblies.htm

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"Uses" has advertising
The use section:

"In addition to automobiles, waste heat is also generated in many other places, such as in industrial processes and in heating (wood stoves, outdoor boilers, cooking, oil and gas fields, pipelines, and remote communication towers). Again, the waste heat can be reused to generate electricity. In fact, several companies have begun projects in installing large quantities of these thermoelectric devices. Some companies include TEGPRO ([1] ), Thermal Electronics Corp., Custom Thermoelectric([2]), Marlow Industries, tecteg MFR., wellentech and Tegpower ([3] ). Other companies are developing consumer-level applications to capture the energy commonly wasted during cooking. A handful of USB cooking products have emerged, such as the BioLite stoves, Hatsuden Nabe thermoelectric cookpot[11] Stove Lite - Light up your room with your Wood Stove[12] Stealth Power Systems,[13] and the PowerPot.[14] Wood stove TEG12VDC-24AIR and TEG12VDC-24LIQUID TEG Generators producing enough power to trickle charge 12VDC and 24VDC batteries. Thermal Electronics Corp.[15] Devil Watt Wood stove Thermoelectric Generators produce as much as 50 Watts of Power. Devil Watt[16] Tegulator Thermoelectric Generator Energy Harvesting Modules convert very low voltage into regulated outputs of 1.8, 2.2, 3.0, 3.3 and 5.0 volts. Microprocessors generate waste heat. Researchers have considered whether some of that energy could be recycled.[17] (However, see below for problems that can arise.)" (2016/06/13)

reads like a huge advertisement.

At best, "In addition to automobiles, waste heat is also generated in many other places, such as in industrial processes and in heating (wood stoves, outdoor boilers, cooking, oil and gas fields, pipelines, and remote communication towers). " is sufficient.

I removed the ads, and it cleans up the references (I wasn't certain), but I hope someone understands my concern.128.205.70.47 (talk) 17:06, 13 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Just removed a short advertisement-like paragraph for "wellentech" added last month to the "Thermoelectric module" section Drakedevel (talk) 00:41, 12 March 2017 (UTC)

Criptic text.
While I was searching for generator efficiency it says "ZT, the figure of merit, value of around unity", all of that terms appears cryptically on the text without previous treatment nor linking. ZT? Atomic weight*Temperature? What does Z mean? Also isn't any template for generators to apply here?--167.57.134.187 (talk) 22:05, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

However, TEGs are typically more expensive and less efficient.[1] ???
I found this remark on several wikipedia articles but this is the first one with an actual source. It is in the first two lines of the summary.

However, when reading the abstract of the referenced paper I read the following: "Finally, it is concluded that thermoelectric technology is the new and very advantageous energy conversion method, but now a days this is in development phase but in future it may be proved as a non comparable energy conversion method."

Is the remark true and the paper somewhat out of date ? Or maybe I should look further into the paper to nuance the conclusion ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.136.31.231 (talk) 10:07, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

Rare and expensive?
"For many years, the main three semiconductors known to have both low thermal conductivity and high power factor were bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3), lead telluride (PbTe), and silicon germanium (SiGe). These materials have very rare elements which make them very expensive compounds."

Germanium and silicon are rare and expensive?

2001:171C:2E60:D7E1:192A:E343:7EBC:5AC7 (talk) 17:34, 11 January 2020 (UTC)

Tellurium and Germanium are rare and quite expensive. Silicon is cheap, but alone not at all suiteable for a peltier element or thermoelectric cooler. --Ulrich67 (talk) 10:05, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

Please update with: "High-performance wearable thermoelectric generator with self-healing, recycling, and Lego-like reconfiguring capabilities"
It may be good to add some short information on the study to the article, possibly into a new section. It's currently featured in 2021 in science like so:


 * Researchers report the development of a wearable thermoelectric generator with characteristics that make it a candidate for devices continuously harvesting body-heat energy and solar energy with applications such as powering wearable electronics.

--Prototyperspective (talk) 16:16, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

Please update with: "Chip-scale solar thermal electrical power generation"
Please add a section/list-item like "Energy storage" (or e.g. "Electricity generation from energy storage") to #Uses and there include some brief info about this development/paper. It's currently featured in 2022 in science like so:

"Researchers report the development of a system that combines the MOST solar thermal energy storage system with a chip-sized thermoelectric generator to generate electricity from it."

Prototyperspective (talk) 20:52, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

Might be too specific?
This section under Efficiency reads to me as if I was reading and article by someone trying to persuade a reviewer to publish an article.

"If the hot region is around 1273K and the ZT values of 3 - 4 are implemented, the efficiency is approximately 33-37%; allowing TEG's to compete with certain heat engine efficiencies.

As of 2021, there are materials (some containing widely available and inexpensive arsenic and tin) reaching a ZT value > 3; monolayer (ZT = 3.36 on the armchair axis); n-type doped  (ZT = 3.23); p-type doped  (ZT = 3.46); p-type doped  (ZT = 3.5). "

All the claims seem to have references, and in that case their information would be useful/interesting/relevant, if a bit excessive. I believe it could be reworded or shortened, but this issue is nowhere close to the previously mentioned "Uses has advertising". 147.161.131.90 (talk) 13:51, 24 May 2024 (UTC)