How Peltiers Work plus Direct PV Solar Air Conditioning Research Projects Documented

[@danielnicholls6868]

was thinking of running peltiers along top of window to cool between two pains of glass. binging heat back in to room in winter no heat loss to outside on your biggest heat loss area win win

[@solarpoweredge]

@danielnicholls6868 That's a pretty neat idea! Someone also made a plate that goes in the window, like an AC or heat pump. I'd like to try it... except the only window in the cabin isn't available for experiments right now...

[@priestesslucy]

Wouldn't making the window colder accelerate the heat loss from the thermal envelope? Not that I would have the power to spare to try this anyway living in such a cloudy winter zone where my winter power production is so heavily limited by thick clouds 5-7 days a week 😂

[@Victoria-gq8gt]

Love the peltier focus! I enjoy learning from you, and appreciate your videos indeed. Fascinating. Keep up the great research!! 👍

[@solarpoweredge]

@Victoria-gq8gt Thank you :) I appreciate your support, will keep chipping away at this and share any results that might be useful :)

[@joepeppers1920]

I did many similar experiments to what you have done here, and the biggest problem I ran into was the outside ambient temp was over 100f.. The peltiers that I had could only achieve a max dT of 40-60, so that meant the best possible inside temp would be 40. But that's ideal math, and this is the real world. What I ended up doing was building a "thermal flywheel".... having a large tank of water outside(shaded and lightly insulated) that water would collect the heat from my peltiers during the day, and then a small pump and radiator/fan would run overnight to cool the water. I get thet that requires energy storage and you are running direct from pv, but, the principal might be able to work for you in some other way so I thought I'd share. oh, I also directed any condensate water i generated into the tank, I couldn't make sense of letting that cold water just run out on the ground....that's some BTU's you already efforted to move....and efficiency is the name of the game...

[@solarpoweredge]

@joepeppers1920 That is good thinking! I was considering using one or two of my 55gal drums full of cold water to dump the heat into. Running a fan at night does use power but I think it's totally acceptable tradeoff... considering how simple and diy-friendly peltiers and water cooling are

[@joepeppers1920]

@@solarpoweredge I wonder if a thermosyphon would do enough over night.... Guess it would depend on the temp difference between water and night air... Another thought I had was to do something like a heatpump water heater, where the peltiers pump heat in to a "preheat" tank...and cool the room.

[@solarpoweredge]

@joepeppers1920 It's worth testing. I would like to try a water heater preheat system. That's a great way to capture the waste heat. It would work with standard ACs too. Maybe if I build a cooling system for my house, I can try this.

[@sergevilleneuve1715]

Can you pump the condensate onto the outside radiator? So that it would help to could more

[@solarpoweredge]

@sergevilleneuve1715 Sure it's a good idea... that's actually what window AC units do

[@peterxyz3541]

I love to leach that hot water and put it on the hot water tank! One idea, run some copper tube along a section of the hotwater pipe outlet, the section between tank and sink (if possible) as a heat exchanger. Lots of grand possibilities 👍

[@solarpoweredge]

@peterxyz3541 Good thinking, been looking at storing the heat! Peltiers should be able to make more heat than you put in! Someone suggested sticking them on the window, freeze the window and get extra heat. There are 1,000 experiments and only 1 of me :D

[@MrBasilkey]

Run the condensation to cooling water tank to help cool it down. Nice work.

[@solarpoweredge]

@MrBasilkey Good idea and thank you!!

[@colin8532]

You've been busy! Sounds like you're really enjoying the process as well.

[@solarpoweredge]

@colin8532 They kept me very busy, but honestly due to the frustrating situation here I didn't really enjoy it (yet). However I learned a lot. When things improve I'm sure this kind of work will be a better experience :)

[@andys5203]

I am trying something similar with an ice chest. Keep up the good work 👏

[@solarpoweredge]

@andys5203 Thanks, will keep hammering away at this :D ice chest sounds intriguing... I am converting a cheap plastic cooler to peltier for a fridge build... I don't know how far it will go, guess we'll see

[@GeoFry3]

55F will dehumidify the air to 50%. It's a good temperature to shoot for if you are using it for AC.

[@solarpoweredge]

@GeoFry3 Right, I'll keep this in mind... I'd be OK with 50% humidity or even 55% as long as it's not too hot in the shop

[@WhatDadIsUpTo]

I'm working towards the same goals as you, but I favor mechanical stuff over electronic. I build wind turbines that compress air and store it in a 2,000 gallon capacity tank & tubing network instead of generating electricity and storing power in batteries. My rendition of air conditiining / refrigeration uses compressed air and a "vortex tube". The tube has zero moving parts. It has a hot side and a cold side, each wirh vents. High-frequency noise is a bit of a challenge, but it'll shoot out FREEZING COLD air on only a modicum of pressure and flow.

[@solarpoweredge]

@WhatDadIsUpTo I was reading through a paper on vortex tube (Ranque-Hilsch) the other day. Very interesting idea and I understand it's loud, but that's a problem worth solving :)

[@orangezeroalpha]

Are you making or purchasing these vortex tubes? I've seen one or two 3d printed versions but haven't read anything about performance. I couldn't find any reasonably priced. It is pretty interesting physics. What types of pressures and flow rates do you need to get yours working?

[@WhatDadIsUpTo]

@solarpoweredge I'm considering keeping the tube concealed in an insulated box and cooling a working fluid to be pumped through the equivalent of a fan-driven evaporator as in an A/C unit. My main problem is, I have eleventy-seven projects all going on at one time!

[@solarpoweredge]

@WhatDadIsUpTo That sounds like it would work! Have 9000 projects going here to, and only 0.5% of me available to do all that research...

[@FedericoLucchi]

Very nice project! I am thinking about using pelletier for a sailboat AC/fridge setup. I think it should be possible to increase efficiency by installing the cooling water inlet at the bottom of the keel (typically around 4-5 feet depth), thus giving colder water than at the surface (also no need for radiators to cool the water).

[@solarpoweredge]

@FedericoLucchi Thank you! circulating ocean water should be an endless source of cooling. As long as the cooling parts can handle salt of course. I am still learning about peltiers and now working on building a refrigerator. It's difficult to address the challenges with peltiers, but I'll keep trying :)

[@ANGRY_AMERICAN]

Nice idea you could also try cascading the Peltier modules that way you can achieve a higher delta, it could even be more efficient. I have plans for a whole house and even a way to supercharge it with more mother nature. You could use the condensation water to drip onto the OD off the outside cooling fans to increase thermal exchange as the air blows across the radiator, it would act like the mist fans used at amusement parks.

[@solarpoweredge]

@ANGRY_AMERICAN Definitely... been experimenting with cascading. I should try using that cold water to make mist, I'd like to see how much temp drop

[@ANGRY_AMERICAN]

@@solarpoweredge If your indoor heat exchanger is enclosed just have the exit small enough to provide a slight positive pressure would automatically pump water out

[@solarpoweredge]

@ANGRY_AMERICAN Good idea

[@Deliverance-Childrens-Bread]

Run the cold water into the hot water. Elevated drain

[@solarpoweredge]

@Deliverance-Childrens-Bread Thinking about that, good idea... incidentally window AC units do the same thing

[@morto6876]

​@@solarpoweredge copper tube

[@morto6876]

Your better to runs giant fan at low rpm and spread them apart!

[@solarpoweredge]

@morto6876 Good idea, I had some ordered

[@solarpoweredge]

@morto6876 The fans are for lab testing, I am building a quieter outdoor unit with large fan and different radiators

[@skyl4rk]

It looks like a good way to produce drinking water while chilling a cooler. Could be useful on a sailboat.

[@solarpoweredge]

@skyl4rk Yeah lots of potential applications, I'll keep chipping away at this

[@fookschool]

Do a ground loop to dump the heat so you can hold a lower temp on the cold side of the system and skyrocket the efficiency

[@solarpoweredge]

@fookschool I like the idea

[@dus10dnd]

I bet it would work even better have it dump/pickup heat from an underground cistern to make it geothermal. You’ll get a better output, as well.

[@solarpoweredge]

@dus10dnd That would be awesome. if I can get 100ft of copper pipe buried in the ground it would at least get rid of the heat

[@ww321]

Is there a way that the 105° water can go through a evaporator cooling pad? There will be some water loss but heat goes with it. The chillers at work made like 45° water for the cooling side. The hot side loop went to a cooling tower which is basically a evaporator cooler. Thanks for the video.

[@solarpoweredge]

@ww321 That would be awesome. I been wanting to build some kind of evaporative system or cooling tower device. So much to do

[@timbrown9305]

You need around 40 degrees to take "comfortable" air in a house and maintain a comfortable humidity. The exchange time is very important... you can flow too fast or too slow and make your exchange much less efficient on both the air across the cold side and the water through your radiator. You probably already know this but just in case.

[@solarpoweredge]

@timbrown9305 Indeed there are a lot of variables. I hope to make a proper AC unit when possible, these tests are providing a lot of good data on what peltiers can do

[@P.A.L.511]

To lower the cost, try a 12v hydronic heater assembly made for tractors in place of exterior heat exchange you're using now.

[@solarpoweredge]

@P.A.L.511 Hi, thanks I'll look into this

[@johnzach2057]

So do you have any idea on the COP of this device? Does it make sense vs typical mini split units?

[@solarpoweredge]

@johnzach2057 Refrigerant based heat pumps have a higher COP than peltiers. If one wishes to avoid refrigerants, copper pipes and compressors, peltiers offer advantages. Their efficiency varies a lot depending on heat gradient, quality of modules, power dissipation, thermal interface and many other factors. There are about 4 setups I am testing, and I have not been able to calculate any firm numbers yet. This is taking a tremendous amount of work, I'll get there eventually.

[@travishodges5179]

Divert the cold water drip water to cool the cooling water

[@solarpoweredge]

@travishodges5179 Good idea

[@trygvetveit4747]

The Seebeck effect is more efficient than the Peltier effect.. Its likea heat pump using a generateor in the middel to make it "steal energy from the cold side" if you stack them in the right order.. If interested please contact me, as we actually sold a lot of combined small heat pumps with Peltier elements to cool our tak wheight systems on Brazillian Oil Supply Wessels (to stabilise temperature at thetrain guage at high ambiant temperature) in some tests we actually had to " dump" energy when the temp gradiant got to high..

[@trygvetveit4747]

*Strain guages... Sorry Norwegian ...

[@solarpoweredge]

@trygvetveit4747 That sounds really cool. I have done dozens of experiments that don't appear on camera, trying to see what the best way to use Peltiers is. My hope is to make either some kind of effective air conditioner and/or fridge / refrigerator solution... solar powered of course

[@trygvetveit4747]

+@@solarpoweredge Found some old pictures (2011), i cannot show in public due to...rights but i might be able to send you some explayning pictures from our start up ;) Any way to contact you in private? (reg

[@solarpoweredge]

@trygvetveit4747 Hi you can email me at the address posted on the top of my channel page, click on "More" (view email address), I usually don't post links and emails in the comments as it's likely to get blocked

[@solarpoweredge]

@trygvetveit4747 PS - glad you liked the diode-related videos too, hope to work on that idea some more if I have a chance

[@travishodges5179]

Suggestion 1: Might as well insulate the water tank and use the hot water for domestic use, freezer/air conditioner , water heater, efficiency would more than double by capturing instead of wasting the heat to the outside.

[@travishodges5179]

Second:could let the condensation drop into a gravity water filter for emergency drinking water, or drip it onto a wick behind the outside cooling fan radiator

[@solarpoweredge]

@travishodges5179 The water tank definitely lets out heat, but it's only for testing. It would be neat to capture the heat for some useful purposes

[@solarpoweredge]

@travishodges5179 Interesting thoughts, I have to work on some kind of evaporative cooling setup

[@travishodges5179]

@@solarpoweredge mist it on the outside cooling onto a piece of humidifier wicking fabric

[@travishodges5179]

@@solarpoweredge better yet have the inside higher than the outside so it gravity feeds back to the wicking fabric outside located on the intake side of the cooler

[@douglaswindsor120]

Are these what they use in 12 volt fridge cooler

[@solarpoweredge]

@douglaswindsor120 The units under testing have the same type of modules (peltiers) and more than one of them

[@longtimber1]

I have a 40kW array, PV is so affordable, want to do a walk in freezer. Where can I buy multi kw thermal exchanger

[@solarpoweredge]

@longtimber1 For starters you could build one, probably using any kind of radiators. Industrial thermal exchangers are sometimes available on the "usual" online auction site, but some of them are very expensive

[@james10739]

For the freezer id use 2 and the cold one limit the voltage otherwise it probably won't work well

[@solarpoweredge]

@james10739 The freezer I built earlier uses layered elements, the larger one will too. Hope it turns out OK

[@travishodges5179]

Quieter fan would be ok also

[@solarpoweredge]

@travishodges5179 True

[@robertmccabe8632]

​@@solarpoweredgepumped water over cooling tower(shaded) much like thermosiphon cooling, with a chimney to increase draw. Downside is loss of water from system due to evaporation.

[@robertmccabe8632]

Use the dehumidified water as the source.

[@solarpoweredge]

@robertmccabe8632 All good ideas to try :)

[@travishodges5179]

@@robertmccabe8632 only use the evaporate water, no loss. The more humidity and harder it works the more evaporation water it will have to assist

[@taj-ma-haul9094]

Like# 500!

[@solarpoweredge]

@taj-ma-haul9094 Nice!! Thanks!

[@taj-ma-haul9094]

I wanted to experiment using these directly in the back of the solar panels. Or even radiator fins?!

[@solarpoweredge]

@taj-ma-haul9094 Working on that idea now, it's really cool :) who knows how effective but worth a try!

[@taj-ma-haul9094]

I may use water based heat extraction and then use that heat to heat shower water?

[@solarpoweredge]

@taj-ma-haul9094 Sure, I love using water for heat exchange, it's non toxic and works well :)

[@vevenaneathna]

im pretty sure those off grid water generators are basically just crappy versions of what you created. youre the first person who ive seen combine water cooling and heat transfer with cheap bitcoin radiator fans. you could try putting a small amount of alcohol in the coolant line to avoid freezing temps or try running antifreeze. wonder what you could do with a small 4cylender engine radieator like from a honda. i think theyre only like 40-50$ whats crazy is you can actually extract geothermal energy directly to DC using peltiers if you had a hot resovour on the roof or cooling your solar panels or something and combined it with another circuit of cold water from underground. just the heat flowing through them backwards will make the dc current

[@solarpoweredge]

@vevenaneathna Thanks for the ideas... definitely don't want the radiator to freeze in winter. I am looking at a honda radiator and how to connect it. Already bought 2 transmission coolers to test first. It would be nice if I had some geothermal resources. I did not necessarily want to use peltiers to make electricity, but had some ideas in that direction. If I have a chance to test Peltier DC power generation concepts, I will upload and share the results