FABRICATION OF SOLAR AIR COOLER

PROJECT REPORT 2014-2015

Submitted by:
(team name)

COLLEGE LOGO

Guided by:

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirement for the
Award of Diploma in
-----------------------------------------
By the State Board of Technical Education
Government of
Tamilnadu, Chennai.

Department :
College name:
Place:
 COLLEGE NAME

COIMBATORE

DEPARTMENT

PROJECT REPORT-2014-2015

This Report is certified to be the Bonafide work done by

Selvan/Selvi ---------------- Reg.No.------------ of VI
Semester class of this college.

Guide Head of the Department

Submitter for the Practical Examinations of the board of

Examinations,State Board of Technical Education,Chennai,
TamilNadu.On --------------(date) held at the ------------
(college name),Coimbatore

Internal Examiner External Examiner

DEDICATED TO OUR BELOVED
PARENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At this pleasing movement of having successfully

completed our project, we wish to convey our sincere thanks
and gratitude to the management of our college and our
beloved chairman------------------------.who provided all the
facilities to us.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to our

principal ------------------for forwarding us to do our project and
offering adequate duration in completing our project.

We are also grateful to the Head of Department

prof…………., for her/him constructive suggestions
&encouragement during our project.

With deep sense of gratitude, we extend our earnest

&sincere thanks to our guide --------------------, Department of
Mechanical for her/him kind guidance and encouragement
during this project we also express our indebt thanks to our
TEACHING staff of MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT,
---------- (college Name).
FABRICATION OF SOLAR AIR
COOLER
CONTENTS
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO TITLE

SYNOPSIS
LIST OF FIGURES
1 Introduction
2 Literature review
3 Description of equipments
3.1 Solar panel
3.2 Fan
3.3 DC pump
3.4 Battery
3.5 Control unit
4 Design and drawing
4.1 components and Specification
4.2 Block diagram
4.3 Overall diagram
5 Working principle
6 Merits and demerits
7 applications
8 List of materials
9 Cost Estimation
10 Conclusion
Bibliography
photography
LIST OF FIGURES
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure
Number Title

1 Block diagram
2 Overall Diagram
SYNOSPSIS
 SYNOPSIS:

Cooling process is very important to maintain the foods, fish

and many items at constant temperature to avoid the effect of

viruses. Cooling process employs the different methods to cool the

air. But considering the lower application and cost effective the

water cooling system is considered for our project. The main aim

of our project is to supply the cooled air with the help of water

circulation. It consists of Solar panel, Battery, Fan, Water tank,

honey comb structure and Pump.

CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER-1
 INTRODUCTION

Solar energy is the light and radiant heat from the Sun that

influences Earth's climate and weather and sustains life. Solar power

is sometimes used as a synonym for solar energy or more specifically

to refer to electricity generated from solar radiation. Since ancient

times, solar energy has been harnessed for human use through a

range of technologies. Solar radiation along with secondary solar

resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and

biomass account for most of the available flow of renewable energy

on Earth.

Solar energy technologies can provide electrical generation by

heat engine or photovoltaic means, space heating and cooling in

active and passive solar buildings; potable water via distillation and

disinfection, day lighting, hot water, thermal energy for cooking, and

high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.

Sunlight can be converted into electricity using photovoltaics (PV),

concentrating solar power (CSP), and various experimental

technologies. PV has mainly been used to power small and medium-

sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell

to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array.

The term "photovoltaic" comes from the Greek φώς (phos)

meaning "light", and "voltaic", meaning electrical, from the name of

the Italian physicist Volta, after whom a unit of electrical potential, the

volt, is named.

A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell (PV), is a device that converts

light into direct current using the photoelectric effect. The first solar

cell was constructed by Charles Fritts in the 1880s. Although the

prototype selenium cells converted less than 1% of incident light into

electricity, both Ernst Werner von Siemens and James Clerk Maxwell

recognized the importance of this discovery.

NEED FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY:

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources

—such as sunlight wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat—which are

renewable (naturally replenished). In 2006, about 18% of global final

energy consumption came from renewable, with 13% coming from

traditional biomass, such as wood-burning. Hydroelectricity was the

next largest renewable source, providing 3%, followed by solar hot

water/heating, which contributed 1.3%. Modern technologies, such as

geothermal energy, wind power, solar power, and ocean energy

together provided some 0.8% of final energy consumption.

Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices, peak oil

and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable

energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. European Union

leaders reached an agreement in principle in March 2007 that 20

percent of their nations' energy should be produced from renewable

fuels by 2020, as part of its drive to cut emissions of carbon dioxide,

blamed in part for global warming. Investment capital flowing into

renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100

billion in 2006.

Benefits of natural energy

 It is cheap

 Readily available in abundance

 Pollution free

 Less maintenance

 Doesn’t cause global warming

 CHAPTER-2

LITERATURE SURVEY
 CHAPTER-2

LITERATURE SURVEY

SOLAR CELL:

A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a wide area

electronic device that converts solar energy into electricity by

the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaics is the field of

technology and research related to the application of solar

cells as solar energy. Sometimes the term solar cell is

reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy

from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when

the source is unspecified. Assemblies of cells are used to

make solar modules, or photovoltaic arrays.

APPLICATION OF SOLAR CELL:

 Cells are used for powering small devices such as

electronic calculators.

 Photovoltaic arrays generate a form of renewable

electricity, particularly useful in situations where

electrical power from the grid is unavailable such as in

remote area power systems,

 Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, remote

radiotelephones and water pumping applications.

 Photovoltaic electricity is also increasingly deployed in

grid-tied electrical systems. Similar devices intended to

capture energy from other sources include

thermophotovoltaic cells, betavoltaics cells, and

optoelectric nuclear batteries.

THREE GENERATIONS OF SOLAR CELLS:

 Solar Cells are classified into three generations which indicates

the order of which each became prominent. At present there is

concurrent research into all three generations while the first

generation technologies are most highly represented in commercial

production, accounting for 89.6% of 2007 production

FIRST GENERATION:

CRYSTALLINE SILICON AND VACUUM DEPOSITION

First generation cells consist of large-area, high quality and

single junction devices. First Generation technologies involve high

energy and labour inputs which prevent any significant progress in

reducing production costs. Single junction silicon devices are

approaching the theoretical limiting efficiency of 33% and achieve

cost parity with fossil fuel energy generation after a payback period of

5-7 years.

SECOND GENERATION

THIN-FILM CELL
Second generation materials have been developed to address

energy requirements and production costs of solar cells. Alternative

manufacturing techniques such as vapour deposition and

electroplating are advantageous as they reduce high temperature

processing significantly. It is commonly accepted that as

manufacturing techniques evolve production costs will be dominated

by constituent material requirements, whether this be a silicon

substrate, or glass cover. Such processes can bring costs down to a

little under but because of the defects inherent in the lower quality

processing methods, have much reduced efficiencies compared to

First Generation.

The most successful second generation materials have been

cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium solenoid,

amorphous silicon and micromorphous silicon. These materials are

applied in a thin film to a supporting substrate such as glass or

ceramics reducing material mass and therefore costs. These

technologies do hold promise of higher conversion efficiencies,

particularly CIGS-CIS, DSC and CdTe offers significantly cheaper

production costs.In CdTe production represented 4.7% of total market

share, thin-film silicon 5.2% and CIGS 0.5%.

THIRD GENERATION

THIRD GENERATION SOLAR CELL

Third generation technologies aim to enhance poor electrical

performance of second generation (thin-film technologies) while

maintaining very low production costs.

Current research is targeting conversion efficiencies of 30-60% while

retaining low cost materials and manufacturing techniques.They can

exceed the theoretical solar conversion efficiency limit for a single

energy threshold material, that was calculated in 1961 by Shockley

and Queisser as 31% under 1 sun illumination and 40.8% under

maximal concentration of sunlight (46,200 suns, which makes the

latter limit more difficult to approach than the former) .

THERE ARE A FEW APPROACHES TO ACHIEVING THESE HIGH

EFFICIENCIES:

 Multijunction photovoltaic cell (multiple energy threshold

devices).

 Modifying incident spectrum (concentration).

 Use of excess thermal generation (caused by UV light) to

enhance voltages or carrier collection.

  Use of infrared spectrum to produce electricity at night.

SELECTION OF SOLAR CELL:

Despite the numerous attempts at making better solar cells by

using new and exotic materials, the reality is that the photovoltaics

market is still dominated by silicon wafer-based solar cells (first-

generation solar cells). This means that most solar cell manufacturers

are equipped to produce these type of solar cells. Therefore, a large

body of research is currently being done all over the world to create

silicon wafer-based solar cells that can achieve higher conversion

efficiency without an exorbitant increase in production cost.

So,

1. Availability of silicon wafer-based solar cells and

2. Low cost of silicon based solar cells or the factors considered in

choosing the solar cell.

SOLAR POWER:

Solar energy is the light and radiant heat from the Sun that

influences Earth's climate and weather and sustains life. Solar power

is sometimes used as a synonym for solar energy or more specifically

to refer to electricity generated from solar radiation. Since ancient

times solar energy has been harnessed for human use through a

range of technologies. Solar radiation along with secondary solar

resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and

biomass account for most of the available flow of renewable energy

on Earth.Solar energy technologies can provide electrical generation

by heat engine or photovoltaic means, space heating and cooling in

active and passive solar buildings; potable water via distillation and

disinfection, daylighting, hot water, thermal energy for cooking, and

high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.

THE ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR POWER:

1. Cost of generation of power is very less

2. It does not emit any harmful gases

3. The source of power is free and available in plenty

4. The is no power interruptions

PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICITY:

Production of current using solar panel:

 1. Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by

semi conducting materials, such as silicon.

2. Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their

atoms, allowing them to flow through the material to produce

electricity. Due to the special composition of solar cells, the

electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction. The

complementary positive charges that are also created (like

bubbles) are called holes and flow in the direction opposite of

the electrons in a silicon solar panel.

3. An array of solar panels converts solar energy into a usable

amount of direct current (DC) electricity

ULTIMATE AIM

The solar based air cooler machine can be widely used in

homes, commercial establishments, industrial plants, commercial

kitchens, laundries, dry cleaners, greenhouses, spot cooling (loading

docks, warehouses, factories, construction sites, athletic events,

workshops, garages, and kennels) and confinement farming (poultry

ranches, dairy) all often employ evaporative cooling. In highly humid

climates, evaporative cooling may have little thermal comfort benefit

beyond the increased ventilation and air movement it provides.

 CHAPTER-3

DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENT
 CHAPTER-III

DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENTS

3.1 SOLAR PANEL:

A solar panel is a device that collects and converts solar energy

into electricity or heat. It known as Photovoltaic panels, used to

generate electricity directly from sunlight Solar thermal energy

collection systems, used to generate electricity through a system of

mirrors and fluid-filled tubes solar thermal collector, used to generate

heat solar hot water panel, used to heat water. It is energy portal. A

solar power technology that uses solar cells or solar photovoltaic

arrays to convert light from the sun directly into electricity.

Photovoltaics, is in which light is converted into electrical power. It is

best known as a method for generating solar power by using solar

cells packaged in photovoltaic modules, often electrically connected

in multiples as solar photovoltaic arrays to convert energy from the

sun into electricity. The photovoltaic solar panel is photons from

sunlight knock electrons into a higher state of energy, creating

electricity.
 Solar cells produce direct current electricity from light, which

can be used to power equipment or to recharge a battery. A less

common form of the technologies is thermo photovoltaics, in which

the thermal radiation from some hot body other than the sun is

utilized. Photovoltaic devices are also used to produce electricity in

optical wireless power transmission.

3.2 FAN:

A stand alone fan is typically powered with an electric motor.

Fans are often attached directly to the motor's output, with no need

for gears or belts. Smaller fans are often powered by shaded pole AC
motors or brushed or brushless DC motors. In our case it is powered

by dc motor having three blades.

3.3 DC PUMP:

A pump is a device used to move gases, liquids or slurries. A

pump moves liquids or gases from lower pressure to higher pressure,

and overcomes this difference in pressure by adding energy to the

system such as a water system. A gas pump is generally called a

compressor, except in very low pressure-rise applications, such as in

heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning, where the operative

equipment consists of fans or blowers.

Pumps work by using mechanical forces to push the material,

either by physically lifting, or by the force of compression. Hand-

operated, reciprocating, positive displacement, water pump. A

positive displacement pump causes a liquid or gas to move by

trapping a fixed amount of fluid or gas and then forcing displacing that

trapped volume into the discharge pipe. They are relatively

inexpensive, and are used extensively for pumping water out of

bunds, or pumping low volumes of reactants out of storage drums.

Conversion of added energy to increase in kinetic energy increase in

velocity. Conversion of increased velocity to increase in pressure.

Conversion of Kinetic head to Pressure Head. Meet all heads like

Kinetic, Potential, and Pressure. Periodic energy addition. Added

energy forces displacement of fluid in an enclosed volume. Fluid

displacement results in direct increase in pressure. One sort of pump

once common worldwide was a hand-powered water pump over a

water well where people could work it to extract water, before most

houses had individual water supplies.

Hand operated pumps are considered the most sustainable low cost

option for safe water supply in resource settings, A hand pump opens

access to deeper groundwater that is often not polluted and also

improves the safety of a well by protecting the water source from

contaminated buckets. This means that communities are often stuck

without spares and cannot use their hand pump anymore and have to

go back to traditional and sometimes distant, polluted resources. This

is unfortunate, as water projects often have put in a lot of resources

to provide that community with a hand pump.

3.4 BATTERY:
 In our project we are using secondary type battery. It is

rechargeable type. A battery is one or more electrochemical cells,

which store chemical energy and make it available as electric current.

There are two types of batteries, primary (disposable) and secondary

(rechargeable), both of which convert chemical energy to electrical

energy. Primary batteries can only be used once because they use

up their chemicals in an irreversible reaction. Secondary batteries can

be recharged because the chemical reactions they use are reversible;

they are recharged by running a charging current through the battery,

but in the opposite direction of the discharge current. Secondary, also

called rechargeable batteries can be charged and discharged many

times before wearing out. After wearing out some batteries can be

recycled.

Batteries have gained popularity as they became portable and

useful for many purposes. The use of batteries has created many

environmental concerns, such as toxic metal pollution. A battery is a

device that converts chemical energy directly to electrical energy it

consists of one or more voltaic cells. Each voltaic cell consists of two

half cells connected in series by a conductive electrolyte.

 One half-cell is the positive electrode, and the other is the

negative electrode. The electrodes do not touch each other but are

electrically connected by the electrolyte, which can be either solid or

liquid. A battery can be simply modeled as a perfect voltage source

which has its own resistance, the resulting voltage across the load

depends on the ratio of the battery's internal resistance to the

resistance of the load.

When the battery is fresh, its internal resistance is low, so the

voltage across the load is almost equal to that of the battery's internal

voltage source. As the battery runs down and its internal resistance

increases, the voltage drop across its internal resistance increases,

so the voltage at its terminals decreases, and the battery's ability to

deliver power to the load decreases.

3.5 CONTROL UNIT

In our project the main device is a micro controller. It is used to

control the whole unit of this project. The micro controller is

connected to the control unit. The control unit is connected with the

battery to get the power supply.

Microcontrollers are destined to play an increasingly important

role in revolutionizing various industries and influencing our day to

day life more strongly than one can imagine. Since its emergence in

the early 1980's the microcontroller has been recognized as a

general purpose building block for intelligent digital systems. It is

finding using diverse area, starting from simple children's toys to

highly complex spacecraft. Because of its versatility and many

advantages, the application domain has spread in all conceivable

directions, making it ubiquitous. As a consequence, it has generate a

great deal of interest and enthusiasm among students, teachers and

practicing engineers, creating an acute education need for imparting

the knowledge of microcontroller based system design and

development. It identifies the vital features responsible for their

tremendous impact; the acute educational need created by them and

provides a glimpse of the major application area.

ADVANTAGES OF MICROCONTROLLERS

If a system is developed with a microprocessor, the designer

has to go for external memory such as RAM, ROM or EPROM and

peripherals and hence the size of the PCB will be large enough to

hold all the required peripherals. But, the micro controller has got all

these peripheral facilities on a single chip so development of a similar

system with a micro controller reduces PCB size and cost of the

design.

One of the major differences between a micro controller and a

microprocessor is that a controller often deals with bits , not bytes as

in the real world application, for example switch contacts can only be

open or close, indicators should be lit or dark and motors can be

either turned on or off and so forth.

 CHAPTER-4

DESIGN AND DRAWING

 CHAPTER-IV

DESIGN OF EQUIPMENT AND DRAWING

4.1 MACHINE COMPONENTS

The SOLAR AIR COLLER consists of the following components

to full fill the requirements of complete operation of the machine.

1. Solar panel

2. Fan

3. Air cooler model

4. Battery

5. Dc pump

6. Tank
 FAN SPECIFICATION

Fan (condenser fan =12” x 10B)

Motor in put = 80watts

Weight =1000gms

Speed =2300rpm

Max current =6.7amps (12 v dc)

Blade = nylon glass filled

Air flow = 1400m3/h @17 Pascal fan inlet pressure

SOLAR PANEL SPECIFICATIONS

Maximum Power(Pmax) 5watts

Tolerance =10/-10%

Maximum Power Voltage 12 volts

Maximum Power Current .71 amps

Open Circuit Voltage (Voc) 10.8 volts

Short Circuit Current (Isc) 0.57amp

Temp coefficient of Voc -0.37x102 A/C°

Temp coefficient of ISC 0.08x102 A/C°

NOC 47 C°

Max Sysytem Voltage 600 Volts

Dimensions 12.5 - 7 – 1 (LxWxD - inches)

Weight 2.2 lbs

Cells - 36

Cell Technology - Polycrystalline

Cell Shape - Rectangular

Temperature Coefficient

Power Pmax/°C – minus 0.44%

SOLAR PANEL CALCUALTION:

VOLT = 12 V

WATT = 5 W

W=VXI

5 = 12 X I

I = 5/12
I = 420ma

BATTERY CALCULATION:

BAH /CI = 8 ah/420ma

= 19 hrs

To find the Current

Watt = 18 w

Volt = 12v

Current =?

P= V x I

18 =12 x I

I = 18/12

= 1.5 AMPS

BATTERY USAGE WITH 1.5 AMPS

BAH /I

8/1.5 = 5.3 hrs

DRAWING
4.2 DRAWING FOR SOLAR AIR COOLER
 CHAPTER-5

WORKING PRINCIPLE
 CHAPTER-V

WORKING PRINCIPLE

Solar panel consists of number of silicon cells, when sun

light falls on this panel it generate the voltage signals then these

voltage signals are given to charging circuit. Depending on the

panel board size the generated voltage amount is increased. In

charging circuit the voltage signal from the board is gathered

together and stored in the battery. There are two tanks provided

one at the top and another one at the bottom. The water from the

top tank is made to pass through the honey comb structure which

are fixed between the two tanks. A fan is provided at the centre of

the tank in such a way that the supply for the fan is coming from

the battery which stores the current from the solar panel. When the

water falls from the top tank to the bottom tank due to gravity, the

fan is made to run, so that the cool air will be supplied all the way
through. At the bottom of the tank, there will be a DC pump which

pumps the water again to the top tank. The power for the DC pump

is coming from the battery connected to the solar panel. In the

bottom tank there are two level probe sensors fixed.

 CHAPTER -6

MERITS AND DEMERIT

 CHAPTER-VI

MERITS AND DEMERIT

MERITS

 Low cost

 High reliable

 Low maintenance

 Simple in design

DEMERIT

Solar power is not available at night time.

 CHAPTER -7

APPLICATIONS
 CHAPTER-VII

APPLICATIONS

It can be utilized in all the rural areas where the current supply is not

available.
 CHAPTER-8

LIST OF MATERIALS
 CHAPTER-VIII

LIST OF MATERIALS

FACTORS DETERMINING THE CHOICE OF MATERIALS

The various factors which determine the choice of material are

discussed below.

1. Properties:

The material selected must posses the necessary properties for

the proposed application. The various requirements to be satisfied

Can be weight, surface finish, rigidity, ability to withstand

environmental attack from chemicals, service life, reliability etc.

The following four types of principle properties of materials

decisively affect their selection

a. Physical

b. Mechanical

c. From manufacturing point of view

d. Chemical
 The various physical properties concerned are melting point,

thermal

Conductivity, specific heat, coefficient of thermal expansion, specific

gravity, electrical conductivity, magnetic purposes etc.

The various Mechanical properties Concerned are strength in tensile,

Compressive shear, bending, torsional and buckling load, fatigue

resistance, impact resistance, eleastic limit, endurance limit, and

modulus of elasticity, hardness, wear resistance and sliding

properties.

The various properties concerned from the manufacturing point

of view are,

 Cast ability

 Weld ability

 Surface properties

 Shrinkage

 Deep drawing etc.

2. Manufatuing case:

Sometimes the demand for lowest possible manufacturing cost or

surface qualities obtainable by the application of suitable coating

substances may demand the use of special materials.

3. Quality Required:

This generally affects the manufacturing process and ultimately

the material. For example, it would never be desirable to go casting of

a less number of components which can be fabricated much more

economically by welding or hand forging the steel.

4. Availability of Material:

Some materials may be scarce or in short supply.it then

becomes obligatory for the designer to use some other material which

though may not be a perfect substitute for the material designed.the

delivery of materials and the delivery date of product should also be

kept in mind.

5. Space consideration:

Sometimes high strength materials have to be selected because the

forces involved are high and space limitations are there.

6. Cost:

As in any other problem, in selection of material the cost of

material plays an important part and should not be ignored.

Some times factors like scrap utilization,appearance,and non-

maintenance of the designed part are involved in the selection of

proper materials.
 CHAPTER-9

COST ESTIMATION
 CHAPTER-IX

COST ESTIMATION

1. MATERIAL COST.

2. LABOUR COST:

3. OVERGHEAD CHARGES:

The overhead charges are arrived by”manufacturing cost”

Manufacturing Cost =Material Cost +Labour Cost

Overhead Charges =20%of the manufacturing cost

4. TOTAL COST:

Total cost = Material Cost +Labour Cost +Overhead Charges

Total cost for this project =

CHAPTER-10

CONCLUSION
 CHAPTER-X

CONCLUSION

The project carried out by us made an impressing task in the

field of Cost of generation of power is very less so the source of

power is free and available in plenty and then is no power

interruptions. This project has also reduced the cost involved in the

concern.project has been designed to perform the entire requirement

task which has also been provided.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. www.indiamart.com/unitedsolarengineering/solar-air-

cooler.html

2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_air_conditioning

3. www.solopowersystems.com/solar-air-cooler-258464.html

4. www.vimalelectronics.com/solar_air_cooler.htm

5. Strength of Materials -R.S.Kurmi

6. Manufacturing Technology -M.Haslehurst.

7. Design of machine elements- R.s.Kurumi

PHOTOGRAPHY