Using ambient heat with the aid of a Peltier heat pump

Principle

If an electric current flows through the Peltier element, then one side will heat up, the other will cool down. In the process, the temperature of the warm side has an influence on the temperature of the cold side.
This can be used, e.g., for cooling with ambient heat: If the warm side is held at a constant temperature by air, water or earth (geothermal energy), the cold side cools down stronger than without storage. The aluminium block of the thermo generator is used as storage in this experiment.

Benefits

• Experiment is part of a complete solution set with a total of 17 experiments for Renewable Energy Basics and Heat energy
• Direct protection of the thermocouple against overheating due to fixed aluminum plates
• Additional aluminum block for storage of heat energy

Tasks

1. What effect does the ambient temperature have on the cooling with the Peltier element?
2. Change the ambient temperature by heating the Peltier element
   a) with an aluminium block as a base
   b) with a felt plate as a base

Learning objectives

• Thermogenerator
• Heat storage