In a power generation system, the price per watt ($/W) is an important parameter to be considered for checking the feasibility for practical implementation. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate that $/W of a thermoelectric device can be reduced to around 60%. The conventional approach to reducing $/W in thermoelectrics is to enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) of the thermoelectric materials used, which can increase the power output (W). We propose that $/W can be reduced by lowering the material consumption ($) with a slight sacrifice in power output by changing the device architecture. A simple calculation suggests that zT ∼ 6 is needed for such a reduction in $/W based on the conventional approach. This method can be accompanied by a search for high-zT material so that further reduction in $/W can be achieved with efficient thermoelectric materials.

在发电系统中，每瓦价格（$ / W）是检查实际实施可行性时要考虑的重要参数。在本文中，我们通过实验证明了热电设备的$ / W可以降低到60％左右。减少热电中的$ / W的常规方法是提高所使用的热电材料的热电品质因数（zT），这可以增加功率输出（W）。我们建议可以通过降低材料消耗（$）来降低$ / W，同时通过更改设备架构来稍微降低功率输出。一个简单的计算表明， 基于传统方法，要使$ / W降低，需要zT〜6。此方法可以伴随着搜索高zT材料，因此可以通过有效的热电材料进一步降低$ / W。