Abstract
Building energy consumption has distinctly increased in the hot-summer and cold-winter zone in China. Solar cooling technology has been developed to reduce the increasing electricity consumption for air conditioning and to shift the peak load during hot summer days. This paper presents a performance simulation and economic analysis for both photovoltaic (PV) and thermal solar cooling systems compared to a reference system, which is composed of two electric heat pumps. The results show that 30.7% and 30.2% of primary energy can be saved by using the PV and the thermal system, respectively. The payback time is 6–7 years for the PV system, but more than 20 years for the thermal system based on current conditions in China. Therefore, the PV system is more suitable for practical application in the hot-summer and cold-winter zone. The thermal system could be an alternative when middle- and high-temperature solar thermal collector technology has been further developed, as well as following mass production of small- and middle-sized chillers.
Highlights
In recent years, building energy consumption has been steadily increasing due to recent economic development and improved living standards in China
Solar cooling technology has been developed to reduce the increased electricity consumption associated with air conditioning and to shift the peak load on hot summer days
This paper presents a performance simulation and economic analysis for both PV and thermal
Summary
In recent years, building energy consumption has been steadily increasing due to recent economic development and improved living standards in China. Of total energy consumption in China [1], 50–60% of which is attributable to air conditioning units in public buildings located in the hot-summer and cold-winter zone [2]. Conventional air conditioning systems use electricity to drive a compressor that circulates a refrigerant, absorbing and removing heat from a space. Solar cooling technology has been developed to reduce the increased electricity consumption associated with air conditioning and to shift the peak load on hot summer days. This technology uses solar energy to drive a refrigerator for cooling the space. Compared to conventional compressed air conditioning systems, solar cooling systems have the following advantages:
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