Geo-thermal cooling for inverters?

System
System Posts: 2,511 admin
in Advanced Solar Electric Technical Forum #1
A buddy of mine the other day was bragging about how he has super cheap cooling in the summer because of his geo-thermal cooling system. It got me thinking that one could run a pieced together mini-system to cool inverters, while increasing the efficeny during hot summer days.

Thoughts on this?
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Geo-thermal cooling for inverters?

    Mix water & High Voltage electricity. Fun !!

    I've got a $10 fan and $5 timer on my GT inverter, seems to be ample cooling.

    I'd thought of some copper tubing, mineral oil and a small radiator in a thermalsiphon setup, and figured getting the copper tubing to contact the heatsink, without potting 2 fins with thermal epoxy, would be pointless.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    #3
    Re: Geo-thermal cooling for inverters?
    mike90045 wrote: »
    Mix water & High Voltage electricity. Fun !!

    I've got a $10 fan and $5 timer on my GT inverter, seems to be ample cooling.

    I'd thought of some copper tubing, mineral oil and a small radiator in a thermalsiphon setup, and figured getting the copper tubing to contact the heatsink, without potting 2 fins with thermal epoxy, would be pointless.

    I was thinking something more along the line of a heat/cool transfer fluid that is non-conductive, and then a similar setup to what you have. The system I want to put together could have upwards of 100kw if all goes well, so it might become more cost effective then.
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Geo-thermal cooling for inverters?

    wouldn't huge inverters already have some sort of cooling provision in them ? There are these huge 5 MW arrays in the desert, and they get cooled somehow.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • n3qik
    n3qik Solar Expert Posts: 741 ✭✭
    #5
    Re: Geo-thermal cooling for inverters?

    Most newer electronics are water/liquid cooled. I know of people that have very fast computers for playing games that are liquid cooled. Most server racks are cooled the same way.


    Here are some DIY:
    http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/strip_out_the_fans/

    http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php

    Server News:
    http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid80_gci1162491,00.html
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  • Roderick
    Roderick Solar Expert Posts: 253 ✭✭
    #6
    Re: Geo-thermal cooling for inverters?
    Scot_J wrote: »
    A buddy of mine the other day was bragging about how he has super cheap cooling in the summer because of his geo-thermal cooling system. It got me thinking that one could run a pieced together mini-system to cool inverters, while increasing the efficeny during hot summer days.

    Thoughts on this?

    Well, if someone already has geothermal A/C that's virtually free, then I'd say they should just mount the inveter right inside the house. However, I'm not convinced that the cooling is that cheap. There still needs to be a motor to run the heat pump.

    I'm thinking also, that as others have said, the inverter is already designed to cool itself reasonably. We try to mount it in a shady location, even breezy if possible, but other than that, not much consideration. I think the big efficiency loss is heating of the panels, and because of their large area, it would take a lot to cool them. Consider, that a solar hot water heater can make all the hot water for your house, but its area is just a fraction of a typical photovoltaic install.
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