Ceramics with perovskite-type structure are interesting functional materials for several energy conversion processes due to their flexible structure and a variety of properties. Prominent examples are electrode materials in fuel cells and batteries, thermoelectric converters, piezoelectrics, and photocatalysts. The very attractive physical-chemical properties of perovskite-type phases can be modified in a controlled way by changing the composition and crystallographic structure in tailor-made soft chemistry synthesis processes. Improved thermoelectric materials such as cobaltates with p-type conductivity and n-type manganates are developed by following theoretical predictions and tested to be applied in oxidic thermoelectric converters.