Solar Cooling Systems

Solar Water Tank Chiller

Solar energy can be used to cool media (water / air) as per our requirements. There are two major types of solar energy technologies are used for cooling, one by using photovoltaic panels to generate electricity from solar energy and then use conventional type of compressor-based cooling system. Solar air conditioners and solar water tank chillers are some of the examples for such solar cooling systems.

Instead of solar photo voltaic panels, solar thermal collectors are also used for solar cooling systems, there are two categories for such cooling systems; named solar adsorption and absorption.

The adsorption cooling typically needs lower heat source temperatures than the absorption cooling. Based on COP, the absorption systems are preferred to the adsorption systems, the higher temperature issues can be easily handled with solar adsorption systems.

An absorption system uses a refrigerant which expands from a condenser through a throttle as in a conventional system. The absorbent absorbs the refrigerant vapour from the evaporator at low pressure and desorbs into the condenser at high pressure when heat is supplied to the desorbed. Absorption cooling is the most commonly used method of solar cooling. An absorption refrigeration machine is basically a vapor-compression machine that accomplishes cooling by expansion of a liquid refrigerant under reduced pressure and temperature, similar in principle to an ordinary electrically operated vapor compression air conditioner. Two refrigerant combinations have been used: lithium bromide and water, and ammonia and water.