Abstract
Solar cooling systems have the advantage of the coincidence between the hours of cooling demand and the hours of solar radiation availability, and they can contribute to reduce the energy consumption in buildings. However, the high cost of thermal solar cooling facilities with absorption chillers, maintenance issues, legionella risk and water consumption (associated to the necessary cooling tower) have limited the use of these systems to demonstration projects. A simplified Transient System Simulation Tool (TRNSYS) model was developed to provide the owner of the demonstration facility the information he needs for design decision-making. This model was validated with experimental data registered in a solar cooling system designed and built by the authors. Different collector field surfaces, hot water storage tank volumes, and absorption machine driving temperatures were analyzed for a hotel demonstration facility. In terms of the energy delivered to the absorption chiller the optimum dimensioning corresponded to the lowest values of the driving temperature (75 °C) and specific storage volume (15 Lm2). From an economic point of view, the saving of 1515 euros per year when compared with an electric compression chiller does not compensate the investment of 3000 euros per kW of cooling capacity that cost the thermal solar cooling facility.
Highlights
It is estimated that, in the coming years, the consumption of electricity for cooling in buildings will grow, which is attributable to several factors, such as: the increase in ambient temperature, the growth of comfort expectations, the perception of increased productivity linked to thermal comfort, and increased internal load due to electronic equipment
The hotel owner wanted to take advantage of an existing field of flat-plate solar collectors to carry out a demonstration project of solar cooling
That is why this study has been aimed at evaluating the fraction of incident solar radiation that is capable of being used by the absorption chiller for the the fraction of incident solar radiation that is capable of being used by the absorption chiller for the production of cold water at 7 ◦ C
Summary
In the coming years, the consumption of electricity for cooling in buildings will grow, which is attributable to several factors, such as: the increase in ambient temperature, the growth of comfort expectations, the perception of increased productivity linked to thermal comfort, and increased internal load due to electronic equipment. This increase in energy consumption due to refrigeration systems will result in a significant increase in CO2 emissions. This solution is especially suitable for commercial buildings where there is a coincidence between the hours of cooling demand and the hours of solar radiation availability
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