A 3D thermoelectric numerical model is used to investigate different internal
heat loss mechanisms for a thermoelectric generator with bismuth telluride p-
and n-legs. The model considers all thermoelectric effects, temperature
dependent material parameters and simultaneous convective, conductive and
radiative heat losses, including surface to surface radiation. For radiative
heat losses it is shown that for the temperatures considered here, surface to
ambient radiation is a good approximation of the heat loss. For conductive heat
transfer the module efficiency is shown to be comparable to the case of
radiative losses. Finally, heat losses due to internal natural convection in
the module is shown to be negligible for the millimetre sized modules
considered here. The combined case of radiative and conductive heat transfer
resulted in the lowest efficiency. The optimized load resistance is found to
decrease for increased heat loss. The leg dimensions are varied for all heat
losses cases and it is shown that the ideal way to construct a TEG module with
minimal heat losses and maximum efficiency is to either use a good insulating
material between the legs or evacuate the module completely, and use small and
wide legs closely spaced.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure