The investigation of the geometric structure of TEG (thermoelectric generator) pins is essential, as their geometry determines the performance of devices. In this study, nominal power density (NPD) is used to find a better geometric structure of thermoelectric pins of TEGs, since a comparison of maximum dimensionless efficiencies for different geometric pins cannot be used to identify the optimum geometry. The influence of shape parameter on NPD for TEG pins in linear, quadratic and exponential cross-sectional functions is studied. The NPD decreases when the shape parameter increases for different geometric pins, while the maximum values of NPD are the same. Then, the effects of dimensionless efficiency and the temperature ratio on the NPD are analyzed. The NPD decreases with the increase in dimensionless efficiency and temperature ratio. Pins with linear variation in cross section have the highest NPD among the three geometries of pins evaluated. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.