Thermoelectric Generator, Peltier Cooler Demo Kit

I present science demonstrations to homeschoolers and small private schools in my local area and this product is a perfect addition to my collection of science demonstration items. I've uploaded photos showing this item from different camera angles and close up. It will take some time (maybe a minute) for the heat to travel along the aluminum strip from the warm/hot water in one plastic reservoir up to the thermoelectric module sandwiched between the two aluminum strips and, conversely, travel away from the thermoelectric module to the other plastic reservoir which contains ice water. However, if you don't have the patience for waiting you can press the flat side of an ice cube directly to one of the two aluminum strips at the area that the aluminum strip is in contact with the thermoelectric module and the motor will instantly start running! Once you have heated and/or cooled the aluminum strips you can remove the source of hot or cold and it will continue to run the motor until both strips of aluminum approach an equilibrium in temperature and this time can be in minutes depending on the initial temperature difference of hot and cold sources. When demonstrating this to students you should make them aware that thermoelectric power generation has limited applications due to the very low efficiency of converting one form of energy into electricity compared to most all other means of generating electricity including solar (photovoltaic) cells which run around 15% efficiency. A lot more energy was used to make hot water for the hot water reservoir and removed from water to make ice cubes for the cold water reservoir than what you will get back in the form of electrical power from the thermoelectric module. But in cases where there is "free" heat energy, like geothermal (hot underground water sources) or the waste heat from a car engine or the human body this technology can provide enough power to do useful work.

Doesn't work

Works perfectly right out of the box. Cold water on one side, hot water on the other, after a few minutes the thermoelectric gradient is transformed into mechanical work and the fan starts to spin. Multimeter ports on the outside allow for easy testing of current volts with a multimeter. Will buy again. Excellent example of the Seebeck and Peltier effects.

A very simply design. I gain a lot of information about how thermoelectric generator works. I just wished it had a little bit more power.

This is a wonderful product that does a great way of visually showing it is possible to extract electricity in many different ways. Just as the product infromation says, place one side in hot water and the other side in cold water and the electric fan begins to spin. I brought this and other items into my wife's kindergarten class to give a visual example of how it is possible to generate electricity and use that electricity. This particular item made a great impact on the class and everyone wanted to come up and touch and feel the heat differences between the two heat sinks. This was such a fun toy for all of the kids to play with and see that there are many ways to generate electricity.

Great for demonstrating the applacation of the thermo electric module and use as a power generator. Well designed and worth every cent!

Got it for Christmas and a wire was broken when it got unboxed

Fun way to see in practice how a thermal electric generator works in real life. Can be wired to a multimeter.

Used this for my son’s high school science project. The only problem we had was putting the fan on the apparatus - we put it on too tight and it didn’t spin properly. Once that was corrected it worked great. We plan to donate it to the school once his science fair is completed.