2016 ASHRAE Winter Conference

Solar thermal cooling technology has incredible potential because the demand for cooling and supply of energy (sun energy) coincide. Solar radiation is at its peak, especially during the summer time where the need for air-conditioning is the highest. A well designed and installed solar thermal system can provide heating, cooling and domestic hot water. Thermally driven cooling technologies use harmless cooling fluids (usually water) compare to conventional cooling systems. This presentation will discuss the different components of a solar thermal cooling system, and will introduce the different types of technologies for thermally driven chillers as well as solar thermal collectors.

Peak cooling demand in summer is associated with high solar radiation availability. This offers an excellent opportunity to exploit solar energy with heat-driven cooling technologies, i.e. closed cycle systems (absorption and adsorption) and open cycles (e.g. desiccant systems). Practical insight as benchmarks from actual solar thermal assisted air-conditioning installations will be provided. Overview will include information on common systems, types of collectors, area/kWc, initial cost, design and actual thermal COP, auxiliary energy and water consumption. Monitoring data and experience from actual installations could provide some practical benchmarks to facilitate concept design and first cost estimates and further support standardized configurations and solutions for strengthening market development.

Gas fuelled tri-generation system is optimized by implementing solar assisted absorption cooling, heat recovery, thermal energy storage using ice; building's - thermal mass control via PCM, energy efficient lighting and daylighting control. Several packages of energy efficiency improvement measures are analysed, with the reference to the total installed power, cooling and heating energy demand, annual electricity and total energy demand, different control algorithms, as well as related investment and operational costs. It has been shown that, even for low gas prices and modest increase of electricity prices in the region, the optimal tri-generation system encompasses the solar assisted absorption cooling.

One of the four 10 kW systems on the South Hall of Orange County Convention Center in Orlando is a combined PV/thermal (PV/T) system where ambient air is drawn under the PV modules – improving their efficiency – and then ducted into a South Hall mechanical penthouse to regenerate a desiccant for dehumidification of a separate outside air supply to the building. The combined system was modeled by a graduate student for various absorber, regenerator, desiccant tank, and PV/T sizes to determine appropriate component sizing to meet a given ventilation load in seven locations across the US.