Solar array selection
The amount of solar cells needed was determined by the energy
requirements of the thermoelectric refrigerator. The solar cells
were connected in series and in parallel ways in order to supply
enough voltage to drive the thermoelectric cooling module and
power the fan. Overall, the main objective of the solar cells array
system is to provide the maximum power to the thermoelectric
module. Each cell gives 0.5 V and 3.6 A. In this study, 64 single
crystalline silicon solar cells were used. They were distributed on
two sides in such a way that each side contained 32 cells. The cells
on each side were arranged in parallel and series, to produce
a maximum voltage of 4 V and a maximum current of 14.4 A. The
total estimated power to be received from the solar cells from each
side (32 solar cells) was 57.6W to provide total power (64 solar
cells) of 115.2W (Fig. 7).