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Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux at the junction of two different types of materials. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, with consumption of electrical energy, depending on the direction of the current.
Thermoelectric generators function like heat engines, but are less bulky and have no moving parts. However, TEGs are typically more expensive and less efficient. [ 2 ] When the same principle is used in reverse to create a heat gradient from an electric current, it is called a thermoelectric (or Peltier) cooler .
There are no moving parts, so a Peltier plate is maintenance free. It has a relatively low efficiency, so thermoelectric cooling is generally used for electronic devices, such as infra-red sensors, that need to operate at temperatures below ambient.
As a refrigeration technology, Peltier cooling is far less common than vapor-compression refrigeration. The main advantages of a Peltier cooler (compared to a vapor-compression refrigerator) are its lack of moving parts or refrigerant, and its small size and flexible shape (form factor). [131]
The Peltier effect can be used to create a heat pump. Notably, the Peltier thermoelectric cooler is a refrigerator that is compact and has no circulating fluid or moving parts. Such refrigerators are useful in applications where their advantages outweigh the disadvantage of their very low efficiency.
As active heat pumps which consume power, thermoelectric coolers can produce temperatures below ambient, which is impossible with passive heatsinks, radiator-cooled liquid cooling, or heatpipe HSFs. However, while pumping heat, a Peltier module will typically consume more electric power than the heat amount being pumped. [8]