A standard thermoelectric module utilizes the Seebeck, Peltier and Thomson effects and can operate as a heat pump, providing heating or cooling of an object connected to one side of the module if a DC current is applied to the module terminals.
Alternatively, a module can generate a small amount of electrical power if a temperature difference is maintained between two terminals
Historically, the motivation for using thermoelectric modules to cool microelectronic integrated circuits in the computer industry has been used to increase their clock speed below ambient temperatures, which can be advantageous in some situations
As integrated circuit power and power density continue to increase, the computer industry may begin to approach the limit of forced-air cooled systems and will need to find alternative solutions