EMITTER International Journal of Engineering Technology Vol. 6, No. 2, December 2018 ISSN:2443-1168 Copyright © 2018 EMITTER International Journal of Engineering Technology - Published by EEPIS 317 Study on Thermoelectric Cooler Driven by Solar Energy in Medan City Tulus. B. Sitorus 1,2 , Zulkifli Lubis 1 , Farida Ariani 1 , Ferry Sembiring 1 1 Mechanical Engineering, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan 2 PUI Energi Berkelanjutan dan Biomaterial, USU Medan Jl. Almamater Kampus USU, Medan - Indonesia Corespondence email: zulkiflilubis123@yahoo.com Abstract The article aims to determine the performance of thermoelectric cooler driven by solar energy in Medan city. In a remote area where electricity is still not available can use this cooler box to store beverage such as drink cup so can maintain the freshness. The solar thermoelectric cooling system is based on the Peltier effect to create hot and cold side conditions. The cold side is used for cooling purposes to the cooling room. Heat from the heat side of the module is discharged into the surrounding environment using a heat sink and fan. Experimental results show that the solar thermoelectric cooler can reduce the drink cup temperature from 26 o C to 15 o C in about 40 minutes. The maximum COP of the cooling system during the experiment was calculated and found to be about 0.356. The effect of weather conditions on the COP value was about 85.90%. Keywords: thermoelectric, drink cup, performance, solar energy 1. INTRODUCTION The cooling system is an essential process for controlling the temperature of the product in industrial fields [1]. The conventional domestic refrigerators use the vapor compression cycle this time. The coefficient of performance (COP) of the refrigerators based on a vapor compression system is good enough, but the refrigerants used in such systems have problems in the global environment. Other cooling systems such as thermoelectric cooling based on the Peltier effect have essential advantages compared to conventional steam cycles even though the COP value is not as significant as the vapor compression systems [2]. Compared to vapor compression systems, thermoelectric cooling systems have the benefit of being free of refrigerants, shorter system, lower noise and vibration, good temperature control, and fewer maintenance requirements. [3]. Besides, they possess advantageous it can be powered by solar energy through photovoltaic cells [4,5]. The solar thermoelectric cooling is a particular cooler that uses solar energy as a substitute for conventional energy to drive thermoelectric equipment to be used to cool a room or object. In general, the components of