Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Energy Procedia 158 (2019) 198–203
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

10th International Conference on Applied Energy (ICAE2018), 22-25 August 2018, Hong Kong,
China

Experimental Study of Solar Based Refrigerator Using

Thermoelectric Effect
Hazim Moriaa,*, Munner Ahmeda, Ashraf Alghanmia, Taib Iskandar Mohamada,
Yusli Yaakobb
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Yanbu Industrial College, Yanbu,41912, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
b
Faculty of Mechanical Department, University Teknologi MARA, 13500 Permatang Pauh, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Abstract

The necessity for renewable energy sources is on the increase all around the world because of the negative consequences of
burning fossil fuel to produce energy. Recently, Saudi Arabia has decided to become the world's largest producer of solar energy
by the vision of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2030. This study mainly focuses on developing a solar photovoltaic cell based
thermoelectric refrigerator (compressor less refrigerator) which can function as the refrigerator system in houses. The design was
going to be equipped with the controller and sensors to reach the required minimum temperature which is around 6°C that is
almost similar to the commercial refrigerators.
© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of ICAE2018 – The 10th International Conference on Applied Energy.
Keywords: Peltier Effect, Photovoltaic, Solar Panel, Heat Sink, Temperature Sensor;

1. Introduction

The refrigeration process means removing heat from a specific surrounded space to make its temperature lower
than the surrounding temperature [1-5]. The aim is to provide cooling by using thermoelectric effects rather than
using vapor compression cycle or the vapor absorption cycle. The aim is to provide a device that can do the same
function without polluting the environment and to reduce the production of the CO2, SO2 because it affects our

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +96-656-226-2677; fax: +96-614-392- 0213.

E-mail address: moriah@rcyci.edu.sa

1876-6102 © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of ICAE2018 – The 10th International Conference on Applied Energy.
10.1016/j.egypro.2019.01.074
 Hazim Moria et al. / Energy Procedia 158 (2019) 198– 19
203

environment negatively [2]. The high output of CO 2, SO2 has led to the following impact on the situation of global
warming and ozone depletion. This study was a part of the advanced intelligence technology (AIT) that utilizes the
solar energy. Also, it designs and develops a prototype unit that was illustrating the usefulness and economic
sustainability of solar energy for the planned purposes. Increasing the ongoing average earth’s temperature or rising
air and average sea temperatures can be defined as global warming. It is caused by raising the concentrations of the
greenhouse gases that generated by human being behavior. It observed that the air temperatures and sea have
increased by about 0.8°C (1.4°F) which requires to be solved [4-7].
Due to the production of electricity, the release of toxic waste has increased and copious amounts of ultraviolet B
rays to spread among the earth which causes skin cancer in humans and harm animals [5]. Most of the
semiconductor materials, back coefficient, electric and thermal conductivity is strongly temperature dependence. The
present transient model is utilized to differentiate the dynamic temperature varieties at both cold and hot ends with
constant and variable material properties. The applied electric currents with low, medium and high connected with
different cooling loads are assumed as a working condition. The findings prove that, at low current, the steady
property show created by this work can predict precisely the dynamic characteristics, moreover, as the electric
current increases the temperature dependence of properties have an increasingly notable impact on the active
temperature varieties, particularly for high cooling loads [3].

2. Methodology

Figure 1 illustrates the experimental rig and schematic design of the solar thermoelectric refrigerator (compressor
less refrigerator) which function as the refrigerator system in many applications.

(a) (b)
Fig. 1. (a) Experimental rig of the solar based refrigerator using thermoelectric effect; (b) Schematic diagram.

2.1. Peltier

The effect of Peltier is a crucial concept in this study. The thermoelectric effect is a direct exchange of
temperature differences to electric voltage and vice-versa. A thermoelectric device produces a voltage once there is
an altered temperature on each side. The heat will eliminate from one of the metals and shifted to the other since the
electrical current applied across the junction of two different metals. Thermoelectric coolers operate by Peltier effect
which also goes by general name thermoelectric effect. However, the device has two sides when a DC electric
current passes over the Peltier; it generates heat from each side which one side gets cooler while the other hotter
(Figure 2). The hot side is attached to the heatsink which remains at atmospheric temperature. On the other hand, the
cold runs below the room temperature.
 (a) (b)
Fig. 2. (a) Thermoelectric cooler design; (b) Schematic of a thermoelectric cooler.

2.2. Temperature controller and solar panel

The temperature controller is critical and it earns the input from a temperature sensor and the output connected to
control element such as a heater or fan (see Figure 3a). As shown in Figure 3b, the solar panel is a photovoltaic cell
that converts the light energy into electrical energy. The solar panel output voltage depended on the amount of light
falling on the panel and used as a critical source of energy in this study. The dimensions of the solar panel, power,
output voltage and current are 41.5 cm × 50 cm, 20 W, 18 V DC and 1.1 A respectively.

The solar panels used as a unique process to convert the photons to electrons to produce a current by creating a
particular type of cell known as a photovoltaic cell. The photovoltaic cells fabricated of semi-conductive materials
such as silicon, and it obtains the light from the sun. When occurred, the photons in the sunlight hit some of the
electrons in the photovoltaic cells material which permits to run in an electrical current. There is an electric field
within each cell which is used to streamline this flow of electrons in a particular direction. It can be used as a power
devices while these electrons come through a metal contact placed on the photovoltaic cell.

(a) (b)
Fig. 3. (a) Temperature controller; (b) Solar panel
2.3. Battery with built-in inverter and CPU cooler

The battery with built-in inverter voltage and current used in this study has 12 V and 12 A. The output for four
ports is 12V DC with 14 V Converter. Recent battery based inverters provide sufficient DC to AC power
conversion. Connecting the inverter/charger to an AC power source releases whole fresh field of application
flexibility. The generators have been the most common backup source for off-grid and enhanced the system
performance and flexibility and used in high power, infrequent loads. During a stretch of cloudy weather, it can
simultaneously power loads and assist in recharging the batteries. The generator can decrease the cost of a PV-based
system by allowing it to size for average annual insolation instead of low winter daylight hour. If the batteries or
inverter fail, a generator can serve as a stand-alone backup to the inverter system. The CPU cooler has critically
ventilated the heat generated from the components and actively cools the processor by bringing in the colder air
before the heat damages the parts. It is the most economical and practical way to cool down the Peltier and protect it
from overheating. The CPU fan is critically required to ventilate the heat that generated from the components and
actively cools the Peltier by bringing in the more cooling air before the heat damages the Peltier. Cooling the fans
for the Peltier are existing in different sizes and usually sold with an aluminum or copper heatsink fan. The CPU
cooling fans are attached directly to the Peltier and work along with an aluminum heatsink fan to cool down the
Peltier. The fan is connected to the fin-like structure and enhances the transfer of hot air by towing the hot air from
the electrical heat that generated by the components and pushing in the more cooling air between the aluminum fins
which retain the processor cool.

3. Results and discussion

The appropriate thermoelectrics for this application depends on three factors which are the hot surface temp (Th),
cold surface temp (Tc), and heat load to be absorbed in the cold surface (Qc). The typical COP of the thermoelectric
device between 0.4 and 0.7 for the single stage application. There are two thermal parameters which are basic to
select a Peltier element which is the maximum cooling capacity Q max and Temperature difference dT. It assumed an
object with a heat load of Q C = 10 W to 0°C to be cooler. The room temperature almost is 26°C and the heatsink
temperature TS is expected to be between 5 to 15°C more than room temperature (5°C, so T s=31°C). The
temperature difference between the cold side and the hot side of the Peltier element dT is 31°C (Ts-To).It’s important
to remember that it would be incorrect to calculate dT as the difference between ambient air temperature and desired
object temperature. The performance vs. current graph, the maximum of the d T= 31°C curve located at a current of
I/Imax = 0.42. In general, this ratio should not be higher than 0.7. Using factor for the current found in the heat
pumped vs. current graph the value Q C/Qmax = 0.16 for the given temperature difference d T = 31°C and relative
current of 0.42. The Qmax for the Peltier element can be found as Q max = QC /0.16= 10 W /0.16 = 62.5 W. The
performance vs. current graph the COP can be found as 0.6 for the previously read out I/Imax which can help the
Pel to be 16.667W. The Peltier element manufacturers offer a wide range of elements. In their product line, it looks
for an element with a Qmax of 62.5W as it has a temperature difference of dT = 31°C. The Peltier element selected
with Qmax = 62.5W, dT = 31 °C, Imax = 5.8 A and Vmax 15 V. The operating current and voltage calculated as, I
=Imax ×(I/Imax)=5.8A×0.42= 2.436 and V = Pel / I = 16.667W / 2.436A = 6.841 V. In order to find a heat sink for the
Peltier element, it needs to know the required thermal resistance of the heat sink. In the heat rejected vs. current
graph, it found Qh/Qmax=0.56. For our chosen current and dT. Thus, Qh=62.5 × 0.56 = 35 W. The heat sink thermal
resistance: RthHS = ΔTHS/Qh = 5 / 35 = 0.1428 °C/W need a heat sink with a thermal resistance smaller than
0.1428°C/W .
Fig. 4. Heat rejected Vs. Current Fig. 5. Performance Vs. Current

Fig. 6. Heat pumped Vs. Current Fig. 7. Performance Vs. Current

Table 1. Calculation of COP of refrigeration.

Parameter Value Parameter Value

Voltage, v 12 I, Amp 11.66
Ti, °C 10.6 To, °C 23.2
∆T, °C 12.6 A, m2 25.4
Rtot, m2 k/W 1.96 Length, m 0.35
Width, w 0.23 Height, h 0.235

Table 2. Temperature as a function of time.

Parameter Value Parameter Value

23.2 0 11.2 40
15.1 10 11.1 50
13 20 10.7 60
12.1 30 10.6 70
 Table 3. Comparison between solar electric cooling systems.

System Vapor Compression Peltier (Thermoelectric)

Power of 1 W of
refrigeration effect (watt) 12-50 A few watts
COP 2-4 0.5
Working fluid R-134A, R-407, R410A etc., -
Refrigeration, freezing,
Application food storage &vaccine Refrigeration, LCD screen,
storage military communications.
Noise (db) 35-48 indoor NA
Size Medium Small

Advantages 1.High COP 1.No moving parts

2.Widely commercial 2.No working fluid
3. Longterm experience 3.Lightweight
1.Installation cost is high 1. Low COP
Disadvantages 2.Require more space
2. Difficult to achieve low temp.

4. Conclusions

The following concluding notes have been made based on the experimental study shows below:
 The lowest temperature reached to 10.6°C for the cooling while the highest temperature was obtained at
65°C for heating.
 Using solar based refrigerator as an alternative of using compressor operated refrigerator has many benefits
such as saving the environment, cost, and health.
 The thermoelectric effect devices used as heat pumps, coolers, thermal energy sensors.
 The major challenge faced in Thermoelectric cooling is the lower coefficient of performance, exclusively
in large capacity systems.
 Study different thermoelectric materials are essential to enhance the thermoelectric cooler coefficient of
performance.

References

[1] Rao, R. V., & Patel, V. (2013). Multi-objective optimization of two stage thermoelectric cooler using a modified teaching–learning-based
optimization algorithm. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 26(1), 430-445.
[2] Rawat, M. K., Chattopadhyay, H., & Neogi, S. (2013). A review on developments of thermoelectric refrigeration and air conditioning
systems: a novel potential green refrigeration and air conditioning technology. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced
Engineering, 3(3), 362-367.
[3] Lee, H. (2013). Optimal design of thermoelectric devices with dimensional analysis. Applied energy, 106, 79-88.
[4] Pérez–Aparicio, J. L., Palma, R., & Taylor, R. L. (2012). Finite element analysis and material sensitivity of Peltier thermoelectric cells
coolers. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 55(4), 1363-1374.
[5] Du, C. Y., & Wen, C. D. (2011). Experimental investigation and numerical analysis for one-stage thermoelectric cooler considering Thomson
effect. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 54(23-24), 4875-4884.
[6] Riffat, S. B., & Ma, X. (2003). Thermoelectrics: a review of present and potential applications. Applied thermal engineering, 23(8), 913-935.
[7] Xi, H., Luo, L., & Fraisse, G. (2007). Development and applications of solar-based thermoelectric technologies. Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews, 11(5), 923-936.