Task-lit cabinet

摘要

Methods, apparatuses, and products passively generate electrical energy from waste heat. Electronic components in cabinets generate waste heat that is used to illuminate an interior of a cabinet. A thermovoltaic semiconductor detects a temperature differential between a pair of terminals installed in the cabinet. The thermovoltaic semiconductor generates a low voltage output in response to the temperature differential. A power supply receives the low voltage output and produces a higher voltage for low-wattage light sources installed in the cabinet.

主权项

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a cabinet for housing a rack of electronic components, the cabinet having ports to convect waste heat from an interior of the cabinet, the waste heat produced by the electronic components housed within the cabinet; a thermovoltaic semiconductor having a pair of terminals, a first terminal of the pair of terminals installed proximate an upper frontal area of the cabinet, a second terminal of the pair of terminals installed proximate an exit port of the ports in an opposite upper backside area of the cabinet, the thermovoltaic semiconductor passively generating electrical power in response to a temperature differential between the pair of terminals; selectively connecting an end of a bus cable to an output terminal of the thermovoltaic semiconductor, the bus cable distributing the electrical power to interior lighting that illuminates an interior of the cabinet; and series connecting another end of the bus cable to another bus cable in a neighboring cabinet, the bus cable and the another bus cable daisy chained together to electrically distribute the electrical power passively generated by the thermovoltaic semiconductor to the neighboring cabinet.