A fully automated measurement system for the characterization of micro thermoelectric devices near room temperature

In this work, we report the customized design and development of a fully automated measurement system to characterize the temperature-dependent properties of microscale thermoelectric devices. The featured system can characterize the devices up to a dimension of 8.79 × 8.79 mm² in an atmospheric environment. Commercially available bismuth telluride-based thermoelectric modules (both thermoelectric generator and thermoelectric cooler) are used to validate the feasibility and accuracy of the developed system. Their performance data is analysed and compared with the available manufacturer datasheet. The measured data from these devices are found to be in good agreement with the anticipated values and showed an acceptable deviation of less than 4% in the output performances. The developed setup is simple to operate and suitable for performance evaluation of both macro and micro-thermoelectric devices. The system accurately reproduces application conditions the module may be subjected to in a real-world environment.