Cover Page

Related Titles

Hens, H.

Building Physics: Heat, Air and Moisture

Fundamentals and Engineering Methods with Examples and Exercises

Third Edition

2017

Print ISBN: 978-3-433-03197-1

WOL obook PDF ISBN: 978-3-433-60854-8

eMobi ISBN: 978-3-433-60855-5

ePub ISBN: 978-3-433-60856-2

Adobe PDF ISBN: 978-3-433-60857-9

Edited by

Daniel Mugnier
Daniel Neyer and
Stephen White

The Solar Cooling Design Guide

Case Studies of Successful Solar Air Conditioning Design

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Important Disclaimer

The authors and the International Energy Agency (IEA) advise that the information contained in this publication comprises general statements based on scientific research. The reader is advised and needs to be aware that such information may be incomplete or unable to be used in any specific situation. No reliance or actions must therefore be made on that information without seeking prior expert professional, scientific and technical advice. To the extent permitted by law, the IEA (including its employees and consultants) excludes all liability to any person for any consequences, including but not limited to all losses, damages, costs, expenses and any other compensation, arising directly or indirectly from using this publication (in part or in whole) and any information or material contained in it.

About the Editors

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Dr Daniel Mugnier is currently head of the R&D department at TECSOL, one of the leading French solar engineering companies. He is graduated as an Engineer from Ecole des Mines d'Albi (France, 1999) and has a PhD from Ecole des Mines de Paris (France, 2002). He has a long professional experience in engineering solar thermal systems for large DHW applications and above all solar heating and cooling systems. He is also involved in numerous R&D projects on solar cooling at the national, European and international level. He is author of several publications and presentations at international conferences on solar cooling. TECSOL has achieved more than 50 feasibility studies on solar cooling and designed 15 currently working solar heating and cooling installations since 1990. Dr Mugnier is currently Vise Chairman of the European Solar Thermal Technology Platform, as well as Vise Chair of the IEA SHC Program. He was, from 2011 to 2015, Operating Agent of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Program for Task 48 (task48.iea-shc.org/) and is currently Operating Agent of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Program for Task 53, dedicated to the New Generation of Solar Cooling and Heating Systems (PV or solar thermally driven systems; task53.iea-shc.org/).

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Daniel Neyer is senior researcher at the Unit for Energy Efficient Building at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, associate lecturer at Applied Universities in Salzburg and Upper Austria, and CEO of his consulting company for renewable energies and energy-efficient building. He is an Engineer holding a Masters degree in Eco Engineering and a Masters degree in Mechatronics with a special focus on buildings and renewable energy (domotronics). He gathered 10 years of R&D experience at the Applied University of Upper Austria, Technical University of Graz and University of Innsbruck. His PhD thesis considers design, dynamic control and assessment of solar heating and cooling systems. He is involved in several national and international projects as a participant or coordinator and is an Austrian expert in the IEA SHC Tasks 38/48/53. His main fields of activities are numerical simulations in HVACs and buildings, component and system optimization, as well as assessment and benchmarking of renewable heating and cooling systems.

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Dr Stephen White leads CSIROs energy efficiency research, and he is a Program Leader in the Low-Carbon-Living Cooperative Research Center. He has more than 30 international journal publications in air-conditioning and refrigeration. He has played a leading role in a number of award-winning solar cooling showcase installations, and in the development of the world's first AS5389 Technical Standard for Solar Heating and Cooling. He chairs the AIRAH Solar Cooling Special Technical Group, the ASBEC Sustainable Housing Task Group, and was a subtask leader in the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Program Task 48 (task48.iea-shc.org/). He is on the International Advisory Board of the International Journal of Refrigeration, and is a member of the Australian Airconditioning and Buildings Services (ARBS) “Hall of Fame.”

List of Contributors

Mark Goldsworthy

3 Pasadena CR

NSW 2285 MacQuarie Hills

Australia

Daniel Mugnier

TECSOL SA

105 Av. Alfred Kastler BP 90434

6600 Perpignan

France

Daniel Neyer

University of Innsbruck Unit for Energy Efficient Building

Techniker Str. 13

6020 Innsbruck

Austria

Jacqueline Neyer

University of Innsbruck Unit for Energy Efficient Building

Techniker Str. 13

6020 Innsbruck

Austria

Bettina Nocke

AEE INTEC

Feldgasse 19

8200 Gleisdorf

Austria

Mark Peristy

20 de Guerry Avenue

NSW 2287 Rankin Park

Australia

Sergio Pintaldi

10 Murray Dweir

NSW 2304 Mayweld West

Australia

Leon Ramos Seleme

2me Guillaume de Noganev

34070 Montpellier

France

Ganapathi Subbu Sethuvenkatraman

196 Gosfoard Road

NSW 2289 Adamstown

Australia

Ali Shirazi

25/39 Barker Street

NSW 2032 Kingsford

Australia

Wolfgang Streicher

University of Innsbruck Unit for Energy Efficient Building

Techniker Str. 13

6020 Innsbruck

Austria

Robert Taylor

Gate 14 Barker Street

Kensington

NSW 2052 Sydney

Australia

Alexander Thür

University of Innsbruck Unit for Energy Efficient Building

Techniker Str. 13

6020 Innsbruck

Austria

Stephen D. White

CSIRO Energy Flagship

PO Box 330

NSW 2300 Newcastle

Australia

The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme

The Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme was founded in 1977 as one of the first multilateral technology initiatives (“Implementing Agreements”) of the International Energy Agency. Its mission is “to enhance collective knowledge and application of solar heating and cooling through international collaboration to reach the goal set in the vision of solar thermal energy, meeting 50% of low temperature heating and cooling demand by 2050.”

The members of the IEA SHC collaborate on projects (referred to as “Tasks”) in the field of research, development, demonstration (RD&D), and test methods for solar thermal energy and solar buildings.

A total of 58 projects have been initiated, 50 of which have been completed. Research topics include:

In addition to the project work, there are special activities such as:

Country Members

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Canada

China

Denmark

European Commission

France

Germany

Italy

Mexico

Netherlands

Norway

Slovakia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

Portugal

United Kingdom

Sponsor Members

European Copper Institute

ECREEE

Gulf Organization for Research and Development

International Solar Energy Society

RCREEE

For more information on the work of the IEA SHC,including many free publications, please visit www.iea-shc.org

Notes from the Editors

This design guide is the product of a cooperative initiative carried out by experts from nine countries in Task 48 “Quality Assurance and Support Measures for Solar Cooling” of the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA). All contributing authors are grateful to the national funding authorities that enabled work within Task 48, as well as support for the production of this design guide.

Each chapter has been produced by one of the editors, with important contributions in terms of scientific content from the Task 48 contributors. In some cases, co-authors contributed on particular issues. The editors provided the overall structure of the design guide and went through the whole text with the aim of streamlining the entire content in a coherent way.

Thanks are due to all Task 48 participants, who followed the iterative process of writing and reviewing this design guide – a process which included extensive discussions and sometimes long iteration loops. Of all the persons who contributed to the production of this book, some should be named personally. Particular thanks are due to Wolfgang Streicher and Alexander Thür who comprehensively reviewed the entire book. Jacqueline Neyer had the huge task of gathering all the figures and tables, worked on copyright issues and made all the text and material available to the publisher in a usable form and format.

Jens Völker, Ute-Marlen Günther and Sylvia Rechlin from the publisher Ernst & Sohn were not only very flexible with regard to timing, but also provided us with many valuable tips on the transfer of technical information to the target audiences.

Finally, particular acknowledgments are due to the following institutions from Australia, Austria and France who enabled the realization of this design guide by co-financing the Editors: the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for Australia, BMVIT (Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology) for Austria, and ADEME (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie) for France.

Foreword

Buildings provide a vital service to humankind to protect us from extremes of climate. However, our use of energy to provide comfort in buildings is responsible for considerable greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, which paradoxically leads to greater extremes of climate.

There are a number of solutions to reduce this accelerating downward spiral. New buildings can be designed and built to be more efficient and maintain longer periods of comfort without air-conditioning, and energy-efficient appliances can lower energy consumption when required to meet thermal comfort conditions. Likewise, existing buildings can be renovated to operate more efficiently, but much of the existing building stock will require expensive upgrades to reach suitable standards.

Alternatively, low carbon emission methods of providing thermal comfort can be utilized. Low emission methods include more efficient machines that use less fossil fuel to provide thermal comfort. There are also many renewable energy technologies in the marketplace that provide heating to buildings, but renewable cooling is less developed.

The reality is that both options must be pursued in order to limit global climate change and provide reasonable shelter and comfort for humanity. Solar cooling technologies are one piece of this puzzle, and this guide covers some of the newly market-ready technologies that provide very low greenhouse-gas cooling using solar thermal technologies.

A major barrier for the deployment of new solar cooling technologies is a lack of knowledge of the specific design and sizing principles, which leads to a perception of risk in implementing new cooling solutions. This guide aims to facilitate wider and faster uptake of solar cooling by addressing this confidence and knowledge barrier to implementation.

This guide documents the extensive experience of an international group of solar cooling experts gathered together by the International Energy Agency, Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme. Expertise developed over many projects across the world has been synthesized by the authors into a guide with detailed design information gleaned from successfully operating projects. Readers will find that the guide makes this expertise readily accessible and useful in designing, installing and operating the low carbon cooling technologies necessary for climate protection.

Ken Guthrie,

March 2017

Chair, IEA SHC TCP

1
Introduction

Stephen White, Daniel Mugnier, Daniel Neyer, and Jacqueline Neyer

There has been a tremendous increase in the market for air-conditioning worldwide, especially in developing countries. Global sales of room air-conditioners has increased dramatically, from about 44 million units per annum worldwide in 2002 to more than 100 million units per annum in 2013 [1]. In order to limit the negative impact on energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and electricity network infrastructure, solar air-conditioning is proposed as a new environmentally sound alternative to conventional fossil-fuel-based air-conditioning.

Solar air-conditioning is intuitively a good combination, because the demand for air-conditioning correlates quite well with the availability of the sun. The hotter and sunnier the day, the more air-conditioning is required. Key benefits include:

Interest in solar air-conditioning has grown steadily over the last ten years. A recent survey has estimated the number of worldwide installations at nearly 1200 systems in 2014 (Figure 1.1).

A bar graphical representation for estimation of the global number of solar cooling systems, where total amount of installed solar cooling systems in Europe & the World is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–1200 and years on the x-axis on a scale of 2004–2014. Blue and red bars are indicating Europe and World, respectively.

Fig. 1.1 Estimation of the global number of solar cooling systems [2]

Solar air-conditioning can be achieved by either driving a vapor compression air-conditioner with electricity produced by solar photovoltaic cells, or by driving a thermal chiller with solar thermal heat. The vast majority of existing solar air-conditioning systems (Figure 1.1) are driven by solar thermal heat. While the idea of cooling from heat seems counterintuitive, solar thermal air-conditioning has many benefits and synergies, which are listed below.

1.1 About the IEA SHC Task 48

IEA SHC Task 48 “Quality Assurance and Support Measures for Solar Cooling” was a project conducted by a group of researchers and practitioners from nine countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and USA). Its aims were to find solutions to enable industry to deliver solar thermal driven heating and cooling systems that are (a) efficient, (b) reliable and (c) cost-competitive. These three major targets were to be achieved through activities grouped into four subtasks (Figure 1.2):

  1. Development of tools and procedures that characterize the performance of the main components of solar air-conditioning (SAC) systems (Subtask A).
  2. Creating practical and unified procedures for specifying the best technical configurations for complete integrated SAC systems (Subtask B).
  3. Development of standards and procedures to identify and validate the quality of SAC systems under three scenarios (Subtask C):
    1. Measured performance of large systems, post-construction.
    2. Design quality of large systems, prior to construction.
    3. Deemed performance of small “plug-and-play” solar cooling products, at point of sale.
  4. Production and dissemination of information to promote solar thermal-driven cooling and heating systems (Subtask D).
Figure depicting the schematic of the main activities in IEA SHC Task 48.

Fig. 1.2 Schematic of the main activities in IEA SHC Task 48

The scope of the Task includes the technologies for production of cold water or conditioned air by means of solar thermal heat. It starts with the solar radiation reaching the collector and ends with the chilled water and/or conditioned air transferred to the application. While the cold distribution system in the building, and the interaction of the building with the technical equipment, is not the main topic of the Task, this interaction is discussed in specific cases, where necessary.

The IEA SHC Task 48 was completed in summer 2015. Full details and outcomes can be found at www.task48.iea-shc.org.

1.2 Ambition and Philosophy of the Book

The Solar Cooling Design Guide (the Guide) is intended as a companion to the IEA Solar Cooling Handbook [3]. The content and function of the two companion books are as follows

The Handbook aims to give comprehensive foundational design understanding across the breadth of alternative solar cooling solutions, while the Guide aims to supplement this information with more detailed advice for a limited number of specific applications.

The form of the Guide follows an engineering design description for three specific designs, with the rationale for each key design decision explained. The system flow sheet is described, and the application conditions under which the system selection is appropriate are discussed. Where appropriate, numerical constraints are suggested for the selection and sizing of parameters of key equipment items.

It should be noted that there are many other attractive solar cooling technology solutions. The absence of a given solar cooling technology from the Guide does not mean that it is not appropriate or less attractive than the solutions provided in the Guide. The Guide is merely a positive statement on a small number of solutions rather than a negative statement on other solutions.

While the Guide aims to more completely elucidate a set of specific solutions, it is not intended as a substitute for good design by a qualified engineer based on full understanding of the principles of solar cooling, as described in the Handbook.

References

  1. [1] Japan Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News, Ltd. (2015) Heating and Refrigeration News. World Air Conditioner Market. JARN, Tokyo, Japan, 05/2015.
  2. [2] Mugnier, D. and Solem Consulting/TECSOL (2014) Market development of solar thermal cooling. SHC 2014 Conference, Beijing, China, October 2014.
  3. [3] Henning, H.M., Motta, M., and Mugnier, D. (2013) Solar Cooling Handbook: A Guide to Solar Assisted Cooling and Dehumidification Processes, Walter de Gruyter & Co.