solar air conditioner

Description

What is Solar Air Conditioning? Should buildings be cooled with the help of solar energy, then water-assisted air conditioning systems or ventilation systems can be powered with heat that is made available by solar collectors. No long-term intermediate storage is necessary in months of high solar energy gain or in southern lands. The sun can, at least seasonally at our latitudes, provide a substantial part of the energy needed for air conditioning. Combination water-assisted systems and ventilation systems are also possibilities. How does Solar Air conditioning Work? The basic principle behind (solar-) thermal driven cooling is the thermo-chemical process of sorption: a liquid or gaseous substance is either attached to a solid, porous material (adsorption) or is taken in by a liquid or solid material (absorption).The sorbent (xxxxx silica gel, a substance with a large inner surface area) is provided with heat (xxxxx from a solar heater) and is dehumidified. After this "drying", or desorption, the process can be repeated in the opposite direction. When providing water vapor or steam, it is stored in the porous storage medium (adsorption) and simultaneously heat is released. Processes are differentiated between closed refrigerant circulation systems (for producing cold water) and open systems according to the way in which the process is carried out: that is, whether or not the refrigerant comes into contact with the atmosphere. The latter is used for dehumidification and evaporative cooling. Both processes can further be classified according to either liquid or solid sorbents. In addition to the available refrigerating capacity, the relationship between drive heat and realized cold energy (coefficient of performance; COP) is also an essential performance figure of such systems (see Table 1 at end of article).