  Quantum dots are an important model system for thermoelectric phenomena, and
may be used to enhance the thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency in
functional materials. It is therefore important to obtain a detailed
understanding of a quantum-dot's thermopower as a function of the Fermi energy.
However, so far it has proven difficult to take effects of co-tunnelling into
account in the interpretation of experimental data. Here we show that a
single-electron tunnelling model, using knowledge of the dot's electrical
conductance which in fact includes all-order co-tunneling effects, predicts the
thermopower of quantum dots as a function of the relevant energy scales, in
very good agreement with experiment.
