2Laboratoire de Mécanique Acoustique et Instrumentation (LMAI),

This paper presents lab-scale investigation of a new roof design concept termed "the thermoelectric-roof solar collector (TE-RSC)". The TE-RSC was composed of a transparent acrylic sheet, air gap, a copper plate, thermoelectric modules and a rectangular fin heat sink. The incident solar radiation heats up the copper plate so that a temperature difference is created between the two side of TE modules which in turn generates a DC current. This current is used to power a fan that can enhance attic and/or room ventilation and ceiling heat gain reduction.

Investigations were done using ten thermoelectric modules (Tianjin Lantian model TEC1-12708) by varying solar radiation, simulated using a halogen lamp, between 400-1,000 W/m². The TE-RSC surface area is 0.0525 m². It was found that this new roof design can generate about 1.2 W under global solar radiation intensity of about 800 W/m² at ambient temperature varying 30-35 ^oC. The corresponding air velocity generated by the ventilation fan is about 1.7 m/s. Therefore, the purposed TE-RSC concept seems to be an interesting new alternative for various proposes such as energy saving, power generation and ventilation.