Modelling of an Improved Hybrid Cooler Used in Sustainable Buildings

Abstract

Sustainable buildings are resource-efficient and environmentally friendly in terms of structure and energy consumption. It is not enough for a green building to have only greener structure and envelope; the meaning is extended to all its equipment and applications used, too. The purpose is to reduce the consumption of the conventional energy, to efficiently use energy resources and to reduce pollution and environmental degradation. Due to all these aspects, sustainable buildings use renewable and other different types of alternative energies. Among these are the photovoltaic (PV) and the thermoelectric (TE) energies. In most cases, a highperformance building uses the electric energy provided by PV panels included in a more complex system. In attempt to reduce the complexity of the photovoltaic system and its investment costs, modelling an improved photovoltaic-thermoelectric hybrid cooler was a proper option (a cooler can be found in almost every existing building, especially in houses). The choice of this combination was determined by the use of the direct (DC) current delivered by the PV system by the thermoelectric cooling (TEC) modules embedded on the cooler. An improved variant of the PV-TEC cooler was investigated. The modelling analysis comprises i) an appropriate volume for the day-to-day use, ii) new materials comparing to those already used in the structure of other hybrid coolers, iii) different numbers and positions of the TEC modules on the surface of the cooler’s sides. All the results are discussed to establish the proper behaviour and variant of the photovoltaic-thermoelectric cooler and to further realize a prototype to see if the theoretical results confirm.