Pollution Free Ecofriendly Solar

Powered Air Conditioning

System
Thermoelectricity can be used for
electric power generation (Seebeck
effect) or for heating/cooling
applications (Peltier effect). Electric
power generation has not only been very
successful for specialized applications
such as satellites, but also to generate
electricity at remote places using gas
heaters and to make use of wasted-heat
sources at low temperature.
Cooling applications have only
succeeded in low power applications
such as camping coolers and small
(hotel) refrigerators. For higher thermal
power other cooling technologies
overcome thermoelectricity by attaining
better performance and lower prices.
Thermoelectric camping coolers are
successful because the lack of fluids and
pumps makes TE option the most robust
and reliable alternative for portable
equipment. Moreover, the cost is low
because just one module has enough
power and no electronic controls or
amplifiers are needed. Hotel
refrigerators are small and do not need
much cooling power to keep some
bottles just a few degrees cooler than the
room temperature (usually no freezing
temperatures are required). In this case
reliability is not critical. Apparently, no
thermoelectric air-conditioning solution
could succeed in a market dominated by
refrigeration cycles, where vapor-
compression refrigeration is the most
widely sed method for air-conditioning
of public places and residences.
However, there are situations in which
air-conditioning systems are difficult to
install while a thermoelectric option may
become worthy. This project presents
such a thermoelectric cooler that has
been designed to operate on solar
power, thereby making it useful for a
variety of applications .
Theory
We make use of the property that when
we apply a voltage to a thermocouple; a
temperature difference develops between
the two junctions of the thermocouple.
This is called the Peltier Effect. The
direction of heat transfer is controlled by
the polarity of
the applied voltage. Thus, in principle,
the same device can be used for heating
as well as cooling purpose by reversing
voltage polarities. Consider the circuit
shown in Fig 1. The right-hand junction
is heated, showing that electrical energy
is being transformed into heat energy,
while heat energy is transformed into
electrical energy at the left junction,
thereby causing it to be cooled. When
the current is reversed, these junctions
are reversed.
 could be used as an air-conditioner in the
summer and as a heater in the winter

A combination of the semiconductors

Bismuth and Telluride is most
commonly used for the thermocouples.
The semiconductors are heavily doped,
which means that additional impurities
are added to either create an excess (N-
type semiconductor), or a lack (P-type
semiconductor) of free electrons. Early
thermocouples were metallic, but many
more recently developed thermoelectric
devices are made from alternating p-type
and n-type semiconductor elements
connected by metallic interconnects.
Charge flows through the n-type
element, crosses a metallic interconnect,
and passes into the p-type element. If a
power source is provided, the
thermoelectric device may act as a
cooler, as shown in Fig 2. Electrons in
the n-type element will move opposite
the direction of current and holes in the
p-type element will move in the
direction of current, both
removing heat from one side of the The proposed air conditioning system is
device. An interesting consequence of divided into following phases or
this effect is that the direction of heat modules:
transfer is controlled by the polarity of Phase 1Development of a
the current; reversing the polarity will refrigeration unit
change the direction of transfer and thus Phase 2--Solar powering the unit
the sign of the heat absorbed/evolved. Phase 3--Converting the
Besides, these devices could do more refrigerator into an cooler
than cool a room on a hot summer day. The first phase implements a refrigerator
Because the Peltier effect is reversible, using a Peltier element. The refrigerator
needing only the electric current to flow consists of an insulated box with the
in the opposite direction, such a device Peltier element attached to it. A Peltier
control circuit is used to convert the AC
mains supply into a 12 volt regulated DC
supply. A temperature sensor indicates
the temperature inside the refrigerator,
which is displayed on a LCD panel. The
second phase consists of a solar panel.
The solar panel converts the light energy
from the sun into electricity and this
drives the refrigerator during the day
while a battery unit takes over during the
night. Alternatively, the refrigerator can
also be run on AC power supply during
the night if the battery gets discharged.
The third phase converts the refrigerator
into a cooler. A 12- volt fan was placed
at the door of the refrigerator to allow
the cold air to be blow out and cool the
surrounding area. In the following
section, we shall discuss each of these
proposed units in detail.
PROPOSED MODEL
This section gives the detailed
description of the different modules used
in the project. The different modules are:
Refrigeration unit
Temperature sensor unit
Peltier control unit
Solar unit
The Refrigeration unit consists of a
Peltier element attached to an insulated
aluminum enclosure. The Peltier element
is attached to a heat sink to dissipate the
heat generated during TE cooling. A
switching circuit is also used to change
the polarity of the current being given to
the Peltier element. This enables the user
to use the device for cooling as well as
for heating, according to his
requirements. A 12 volt fan is also fitted
in the enclosure to blow the cool air
from inside the enclosure to its
immediate surroundings.
Moreover an LM35 temperature sensor
is placed inside the enclosure to sense
the temperature. The Temperature sensor
circuit consists of a LM 35 temperature
sensor that is connected to an LCD, after
interfacing it with 89S52/Arduino, to
display the temperature in the enclosure.
The Peltier control circuit is a simple
SMPS (Switched Mode Power Supply)
circuit that converts the regular ac mains
power supply into a regulated 12 volt dc
supply required to drive the Peltier
element.
The solar unit, consists of a photovoltaic
cell, a Volume Unit (VU) meter and a 12
volt rechargeable battery to store the
energy. The solar cell is connected to the
VU meter which is connected to the
input to the thermoelectric element. The
battery is also connected to the peltier
elements input. Solar cell is a
semiconductor device that converts the
energy of sunlight into electric energy.
These are also called photovoltaic cell.
Solar cells do not use chemical The
output (product of electricity and
voltage) of a solar cell is temperature
dependent. Higher cell temperatures lead
to lower output, and hence to lower
efficiency. The level of efficiency
indicates how much of the radiated
quantity of light is converted into
useable electrical energy. Solar cell
efficiencies vary from 6% for
amorphous silicon-based solar cells to
42.8% with multiple-junction research
lab cells. Solar cell energy conversion
efficiencies for commercially available
multicrystalline Si solar cells are around
14-16%.
The highest efficiency cells have not
always been the most economical for
example a 30% efficient multijunction
cell based on exotic materials such as
gallium arsenide or indium selenide and
produced in low volume might well cost
one hundred times as much as an 8%
efficient amorphous silicon cell in mass
production, while only delivering about
four times the electrical power.
SALIENT FEATURES OF THE
PROPOSED MODEL
Here we discuss the benefits of both
these technologies over the other
available alternatives. Thermoelectric
coolers are solid state heat pumps which
have no moving parts and thus are
inherently reliable and require little or no
maintenance. They are ideal for cooling
devices that may be sensitive to
mechanical vibration.
Thermoelectric devices are also strong
in demand for both heating and cooling
in the face of a changing operating
environment; here a simple switching of
thermoelectric current polarity allows
the system to shift to the mode required.
In addition, unlike compressor
technology, thermoelectric system
components can be mounted in any
physical orientation and still function
properly. Of course, one other advantage
of thermoelectric systems is that they do
not require the use of evaporative
chemicals, like CFCs, which may be
harmful to the environment.
Hence its use is very promising in
domestic applications and mainly where
installation of conventional equipment is
problematic (historic buildings,
aesthetic, technical difficulties, size
restriction). Thermoelectric devices,
therefore, open up a whole new world to
cooling and heating possibilities and can
be used over a wide range of
applications.
Originally developed for energy
requirement for orbiting earth satellite
Solar Power have expanded in recent
years for our domestic and industrial
needs. Solar power is produced by
collecting sunlight and converting it into
electricity. This is done by using solar
panels, which are large flat panels made
up of many individual solar cells. It is
most often used in remote locations,
although it is becoming more popular in
urban areas as well.
(a) The major advantage of solar power
is that no pollution is created in the
process of generating electricity.
Environmentally it the most Clean and
Green energy. Solar Energy is clean,
renewable (unlike gas, oil and coal) and
sustainable, helping to protect our
environment.
(b) It does not pollute our air by
releasing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide,
sulfur dioxide or mercury into the
atmosphere like many traditional forms
of electrical generation does. Therefore
Solar Energy does not contribute to
global warming, acid rain or smog. It
actively contributes to the decrease of
harmful green house gas emissions.
(c) Solar energy does not require any
fuel.
(d) There is no on-going cost for the
power it generates as solar radiation is
free everywhere. Once installed, there
are no recurring costs.
(e) It can be flexibly applied to a variety
of stationary or portable applications.
Unlike most forms of electrical
generation, the panels can be made small
enough to fit pocket-size electronic
devices, or sufficiently large to charge an
automobile battery or supply electricity
to entire buildings.
(f) It offers much more self-reliance than
depending upon a power utility for all
electricity.
(g) It is quite economical in long run.
After the initial investment has been
recovered, the energy from the sun is
practically free. Solar Energy systems
are virtually maintenance free and will
last for decades.
(h) Its not affected by the supply and
demand of fuel and is therefore not
subjected to the ever-increasing price of
fossil fuel.
(i) By not using any fuel, Solar Energy
does not contribute to the cost and
problems of the recovery and
transportation of fuel or the storage of
radioactive waste.
(j) More solar panels can easily be added
in the future when your familys needs
grow. It does not only reduce your
electricity bill, but will also continue to
supply your home/ business with
electricity in the event of a power
failure.
(k) A Solar Energy system can operate
entirely independently, not requiring a
connection to a power or gas grid at all.
Systems can therefore be installed in
remote locations, making it more
practical and cost effective than the
supply of utility electricity to a new site.
(l) They operate silently, have no moving
parts, do not release offensive smells and
do not require you to add any fuel.
CONCLUSION
This project will demonstrates the use of
novel and innovative technologies for
implementation of an air conditioning
system. The air conditioning system is
employed using a Peltier element and
powered by solar energy. It is felt by the
authors that this eco-friendly initiative
can be used for local refrigeration and
heating applications. The proposed
model is implemented using appropriate
hardware discussed in the text and the
results obtained are satisfactory. It is
seen that reasonable cooling can be
achieved using our proposed model.
Although the prototype works well in
small enclosed space, a more versatile
version may be developed for general
purpose applications.
The temperature variations achieved
using our prototype is of the order of 20-
550 C. The DC power source to the
Peltier element is a solar cell panel. The
prototype can be modified according to
specific requirements by changing the
Peltier element by a series-parallel
combination (Thermopile Peltier
element) to achieve greater degree of
temperature variations. Further, the
prototype can be made a intelligent
system by incorporating signal
processing and signal conditioning
elements.
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