Effects of the Relative Humidity on the Performance of Thermoelectric Freshwater Generator using Solar Power Source

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of the relative humidity (RH) on the performance of thermoelectric freshwater generator using solar power source. The system was designed, constructed and experimented under real weather conditions in Southern Vietnam. The system mainly consists of four thermoelectric coolers, the four axial fans, the four hot side heat sink and cooling fans, and four cold side heat sinks, two solar panels, charge controller and condensate water box. The experimental results showed that the amount of collected water of the system was affected by changes in the RH, electric current, and air mass flow rate. The collected water reached its highest value of 215 ml while the value of the coefficient of performance (COP) was 0.73 at the RH of 80 %.