Solar thermoelectric cooling using closed loop heat exchangers with macro channels

摘要

In this paper we describe the design, analysis and experimental study of an advanced coolant air conditioning system which cools or warms airflow using thermoelectric (TE) devices powered by solar cells. Both faces of the TE devices are directly connected to closed-loop highly efficient channels plates with macro scale channels and liquid-to-air heat exchangers. The hot side of the system consists of a pump that moves a coolant through the hot face of the TE modules, a radiator that drives heat away into the air, and a fan that transfer the heat over the radiator by forced convection. The cold side of the system consists also of a pump that moves coolant through the cold face of the TE modules, a radiator that drives cold away into the air, and a fan that blows cold air off the radiator. The system was integrated with solar panels, tested and its thermal performance was assessed. The experimental results verify the possibility of heating or cooling air using TE modules with a relatively high coefficient of performance (COP). The system was able to cool a closed space of 30 m~3 by 14 °C below ambient within 90 min. The maximum COP of the whole system was 0.72 when the TE modules were running at 11.2 A and 12 V. This improvement in the system COP over the air cooled heat sink is due to the improvement of the system heat exchange by means of channels plates.