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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

generate electricty with Peltier

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i know its possible; i just dont know how well it will work. i am thinking about buying one to try it.
 





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do you want to use HEAT from one side of the peltier module to somehow generate electricity?


well, there is some heat, but there isnt A LOT of it, just not enough for you to create some kind of hyperefficient apparatus that can generate enough electricity for anything


but maybe you dont want an everlasting machine, just transform heat into electricity.


well, the problem is not heat itself but how do you transform it into electricity.....







ideas?
 

Chad

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You could make an array of them, use those for a heat source in a stirling engine, and hook up a really small generator to it. :D

Honestly, though, I don't see many other ways to do it.
 
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I think he means by applying heat to the peltier, the peltier will put out a small bit of current (This is how those LaserBee meters work BTW). Yes, it will work but the power generated won't be worth your time IMO.
 

Chad

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I was going by what niko said... using the heat from the peltier.
 
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It works, just not very efficiently. Such processes are actually used commercially, but not often. Just like how you can apply electricity and generate a temperature differential, you can use a peltier in reverse (a seeback junction? :D) to generate electricity from a temperature difference. So stick one side on a heatsink, and either heat or cool the other, and you'll measure a voltage across the leads. (shameless plug: BTW, I sell TECs at decent prices if you're interested)
 

Chad

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pseudonomen137 said:
It works, just not very efficiently. Such processes are actually used commercially, but not often. Just like how you can apply electricity and generate a temperature differential, you can use a peltier in reverse (a seeback junction?  :D) to generate electricity from a temperature difference. So stick one side on a heatsink, and either heat or cool the other, and you'll measure a voltage across the leads. (shameless plug: BTW, I sell TECs at decent prices if you're interested)

LOL seebeck junction... :D

Anyhow, how much would you get me a 1.5" x 1.5" TEC for?
 
L

laserguys

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charleytown55il said:
i know its possible; i just dont know how well it will work. i am thinking about buying one to try it.

It will work but you need to keep one side of the cell COLD and the other side HOT.
The higher the temperature differential, the higher the output.
You would need a lot of cells to produce any usable output and the energy OUT is a
lot less than energy IN. :)
 
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Did it for a science project: Peltiers generate lots of AMPS but very little voltage, efficiency is abysmal when used as a generator. Commercially made versions use a radioactive heat source, typically Pu 241, Pu 239, Sr 90, or Po 210. The polonium 210 units are by far the most powerful, but shortest lived.

You can build a peltier battery from some automotive or camp heater catalyst, some square or rectangular stainless tubing, silicone glue, a massive heat sink, and 12- 127 couple peltiers in series. The output is 3 to 5V at roughly 6 to 7 amps feed it with gasoline vapor, alcohol vapors, propane, natural gas or hydrogen. Waste heat is over a kilowatt!
 
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heruursciences said:
Did it for a science project: Peltiers generate lots of AMPS but very little voltage, efficiency is abysmal when used as a generator. Commercially made versions use a radioactive heat source, typically Pu 241, Pu 239, Sr 90, or Po 210. The polonium 210 units are by far the most powerful, but shortest lived.

You can build a peltier battery from some automotive or camp heater catalyst, some square or rectangular stainless tubing,  silicone glue, a massive heat sink, and 12- 127 couple peltiers in series. The output is 3 to 5V at roughly 6 to 7 amps feed it with gasoline vapor, alcohol vapors, propane, natural gas or hydrogen. Waste heat is over a kilowatt!


would love to see some of that!!!
 
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That's how deep-space satellites work. Thermoelectrics attached to radioactively-decaying material, just as heruur mentioned. The Voyager probes are powered that way, and have been running since the 1970s. They use Pu 238, and Voyager 1 was still generating 290 W in 2006, down from 470 W at 30V when launched in 1977. Voyager 1 is now the farthest man-made object in space, and will be the first man-made object to leave the solar-system. Hopefully, it will still be working by then, but just the fact that it is still working now is insane. They are projected to still be talking to earth in 2025, with all of their computer systems based on 1970s technology!!

Another related success story for NASA (spacecraft/missions that last longer than intended) is those "Little Rovers that Could" that are still running around on Mars. If you haven't followed those things, they were projected to last only 90 "sols", and are still running around doing science after more than 1500 "sols". Woo-hoo, NASA!!
 




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