Abstract:

The growing use of renewable energy sources in many segments of life is an unavoidable topic of today's teaching, in particular, for students in the STEM field. For electrical engineering students, the focus is on the possibilities of producing electricity from renewable sources. The greatest opportunity for students to develop creative solutions is when they choose the topic of the final exam in the field of renewable energy sources. In doing so, mentors encourage them to perform the necessary measurements to test the effectiveness of the self-created model. Subsequent models created in this way can be used during regular classes in related courses as teaching tools.

This paper will first describe the basic principle of operation of Peltier elements for electricity generation, and then analyse the possibilities of application in devices in our everyday environment.

Almost every device heats up when it is operating, and its thermal energy remains unused. As an interesting example, this paper describes the possibility of applying Peltier elements on car engines where large amounts of heat energy are produced. This heat then passes through the exhaust system, indicating suitable places to install the Peltier generator. The car’s brakes also heat up when braking. The conversion of this thermal energy into electricity can be redirected to charging batteries in electric vehicles, thus extending battery life.

Furthermore, the simple experiments that the students conducted during the preparation of the final exam will be presented, as well as the results of the performed measurements. This way of working with electrical engineering students shows that their interest in the creative development of renewable energy applications grows significantly when they have the chance to be involved in that process on a accessible way.

Keywords:

Renewable energy sources, model, teaching tools, Peltier elements.