Harnessing Waste Heat from Air Conditioning Units with Thermoelectric Generators
摘要
In the current political context, characterized by uncertainty regarding access to natural resources, rising electricity and natural gas prices, and legislation mandating the increasing production of energy from renewable sources, the topic of energy efficiency is of growing relevance. Buildings consume approximately 40% of global energy, with more than 40% of that energy being used by heating and cooling systems. Concurrently, global warming is driving an increase in the number of domestic air conditioning system users. These systems, in turn, contribute to rising outdoor temperatures by releasing heat into the atmosphere via the condenser. This study presents a method for harnessing the ambient heat extracted by air conditioning system through the use of thermoelectric generators. During the experiments, the temperature difference between the two faces of the generator was maintained at approximately 50 ℃. The power generated by the solution proposed for this temperature difference exceeded 3.2 W, which is negligible compared to the 1,500 W power of the equipment. However, it could be further increased by adding additional thermoelectric generators and the major advantage is that it does not require external energy input.