SOLAR POWER BASED THERMOELECTRIC COOLING

GROUP MEMBERS:GANDHAR UKIDVEDEVENDRA KALKARKUNAL KULKARNI

ANKIT NAIK

Group number 1

GUIDED BY:PROF. V.V KULKARNI

FUNDED BY SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY

CONTENTS Objective of the project Hardware Assembly Project Expenditure Solar panel testing Test Results and Graphical Analysis Power modulator diagram Thermoelectric module and Testing Conclusion Future Development

OBJECTIVE• The primal motive of this project is aimed at improving

fuel economy of a vehicle by shifting part or complete thermal load on to the thermoelectric devices rather than the conventional compressor based systems.

• But practical considerations and limitations do not allow the entire load to be shifted onto the thermoelectric modules, thus this system is going to be more or less a supplementary system to the main compressor based system.

• The possible outcome of this project can improve fuel efficiency which can end up in drastic amount of saving in local (proprietary) or national economies.

HARDWARE ASSEMBLY

•FLEXIBLE SOLAR PANEL (255W 47.5V 6.87A ACTIVE AREA =0.9204 sq-m) •THERMOELECTRIC MODULE DETAILS:Model number:TEC1-12715Dimensions (mm):40*40*3.3Color:WhiteCouples:127Vmax (V):15.4Imax (A):15Max power consumption (watt):231 WattsTmax(degree Celsius):70cQcmax T=0(W):137WItem Net Weight:50 g•12V 30A POWER REGULATOR CIRCUIT•TEMPERATURE SENSORS•MEASURING INSTRUMENTS•LUX METER•RHEOSTAT

PROJECT EXPENDITURE

EQUIPMENT EXPENSE

255W FLEXIBLE SOLAR PANEL

Rs. 1,00,000

231W THERMOELECTRIC COOLER

Rs. 12,000

REGULATOR CIRCUIT + MISCELLANEOUS

Rs. 1,060

TOTAL Rs. 1,13,060/-

TESTING OF SOLAR PANEL

V-I CHARACTERISTICS CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

TEST RESULTS

Date: 2 December 2014 12.30 p.m.Solar intensity 1350 W/sq-mAmbient temperature 34.1⁰C

The maximum efficiency is observed to be 8.25%

GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500

1

2

3

4

5

6

0

1.72

2.53

3.54

4.54.9

I-V PLOT

Voltage (V)

Curr

ent

(A)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500

20

40

60

80

100

120

0

72.1581.2

93.599101.5105.6

100.035

1.47

P-V PLOT

Voltage (V)

Pow

er

(Watt

s)

POWER MODULATOR CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

ACTUAL CIRCUIT

12V 25A POWER REGULATOR CIRCUIT

THERMOELECTRIC MODULE

MODULE TESTINGTESTING WITH BOTH MODULESAmbient temperature=29⁰CFan Voltage=11.6VFan current=0.61AInput voltage to the cooler=12.15VInput current to the cooler=15.2AWattmeter reading of the cooler=160WVolume of the box=65*37*30 cm³=66500cm³

Temperature inside the box(⁰C)

Hot side temperature (⁰C) Time(min)

27.5 29 026 36.4 1.524.6 44.1 2.524 50.2 323.5 51.1 3.2522.9 52.0 422.5 52.4 4.2522 52.8 521.6 53.1 5.321.2 53.7 6.120.8 54.1 720.6 54.9 7.520.2 55.2 8.420 56 9.119.9 56.6 9.2919.8 57.1 10.0219.7 57.9 10.2319.6 58.1 10.4419.5 58.5 10.419.3 59.1 11.519.2 59.2 12.1919.1 59.2 13.2719 59.3 14.23

18.9 59.3 15.0118.8 59.3 15.4418.7 59.3 17.0818.6 59.3 17.4918.5 59.3 18.4718.4 59.3 20.1818.3 59.3 21.2218.2 59.3 25.00

Tim

e(m

in)

1.5 3 4 5

6.1

7.5

9.1

10.0

2

10.4

411

.5

13.2

7

15.0

1

17.0

8

18.4

7

21.2

20

5

10

15

20

25

30

Temperature inside the box when both modules are in operation

Temperature inside the box(⁰C)

2. TESTING WITH A SINGLE MODULE:Voltage to cooler=12VCurrent to cooler=8.4AInput power to cooler=100.8WFan voltage=11VFan current=0.59AAmbient temperature=24.8⁰C

Temperature inside the box(⁰C) Time(min)

24.8 0

24.2 1

23.7 2

23.2 3

22.7 4

22.3 5

21.9 6

21.6 7

21.3 8

21.1 9

21.0 10

20.9 11

20.7 12

20.6 13

20.5 14

20.5 15

20.4 16

20.4 17

Time(min)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 170

5

10

15

20

25

30

Temperature inside the box when only one module is in operation

Temperature inside the box(⁰C)

CONCLUSION• From the above results we can conclude that the reliability of the

peltier module available in India is less with unsatisfactory level of cooling.

• Thus more research is required in the cooling module design with high quality Peltier modules to be made available from U.S or Europe.

• If such changes are made than the rate of satisfactory results will surely increase with reliability.

• The general system is simple to design yet performance of the entire system is yet to be realized.

• Due to certain abnormalities we were unable to successfully interface the regulator circuit with the TEC and the solar panel.

• In addition to this, a 255W solar panel is insufficient to power an air conditioning system, especially in automobiles. Therefore, more research is needed in the development of efficient photovoltaic material.

• Furthermore, other factors like shading and effective mounting also hinder the performance of the PV system.

 

FUTURE DEVELOPEMENT

The prototype can be made compact by selecting as single TEC of higher power (.i.e. of 200W or more). It can be done by choosing a better cold side heat sink that has twisted channels or pipes for circulating the air for a longer time. As an alternative for normal axial fan used in this project, if a blower fans is selected, the cooling system would provide better airflow. Well-known TEC brands (.i.e. Melcor, FerroTECetc) must be chosen if there is only one high power TEC selected for the cooling system. Bigger hot side heat sinks have to be selected accurately based its calculated. thermal resistances for best cooling efficiency. With a single TEC, one hot side and a cold side heat sink a smaller personal TEC cooler which gives comfort can be fabricated and can be installed on roof for individual cooling by changing the airflow and some mechanical or electronics section modification, the TEC air cooling for car can be used for heating applications too. Research is being carried out into the development of efficient photovoltaic material such as thin film and multicrystalline cells. In addition to this, multiple junction solar cells have been known to vastly improve the performance of the system. It ensures that the majority of the solar spectrum is utilized.