Jeff Ely

Angel Henderson

THERMOELECTRIC SOLAR POWER GENERATION FOR

SPACE APPLICATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Team members include Jeff Ely and Angel Henderson

from the Old Dominion University MAE department, Iseley Marshall

from the University of South Dakota in material science,

Dr Jin Ho Kangresearch staff at the NIA in cooperation with NASA Langley.

And the help of a few otherNIA and NASA staff

PROBLEM + SOLUTION

Problem definitionExpensive maintenanceHigh deployment costsHarsh environmental conditionsHigh sustainability requirement

Design CriteriaLightweightFlexibleCheap materials

WHY THERMOELECTRIC?

Conventional photovoltaic'sHeavyFragileExpensiveSustainable

Thermoelectric panels could be much better suited for space applications by improving each factor.

DESIGN CONCEPT

Light-weight

FlexibleCheap

materials

SPRING AND SUMMER 2011

TESTING PHASE

Eff ects of each coating were tested individually on conventional thermoelectric modules at 1 sun intensity (100mW/cm2)

Control – no coatingLow emissivity top sideHigh absorptivity top sideHigh emissivity bottom side

TEST SETUP

Photo of testing apparatus

TEST SETUP

Thermocouple #1 Room temperatureThermocouple #2 3 inches above TE moduleThermocouple #3 Top surface of TE moduleThermocouple #4 Bottom surface of TE moduleThermocouple $5 3 inches below TE module

Programs Figures:

Real time data creates a graph with custom axes

Data stored in database in real time

6300 readings for temperature, voltage, and current.

LABVIEW FEATURES FOR PROJECT

LABVIEW FEATURES FOR PROJECT

Figure 1-10 The lab view software that record the experiment data in real time

SOLAR CELL TESTING

EXAMPLE DATA AT 0˚C

EXAMPLE DATA AT 0˚C

Results show the validity of the design concept!

RESULTS SUMMARIZED

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

ObstaclesElectrical grid slipSmall sizeHigh precision

requirement

Utilizing a templatePlace semiconductor blockssilver based epoxyAluminum electrical networkPlace polyamide surface with epoxyFlip TE, remove templateRepeat on other sideApply coatings

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Use of a templateAids in the

manufacturingDealt with printer

imprecisionTemplate revision

processFinal product

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Printer Test piece

2.2 2.5 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Design Changes3.1mm square hole6mm boundary

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

The Deliverable

GANTT CHART

QUESTIONS?