Investigation The Solar Powered Hybrid Air Conditioning

How does solar-powered air conditioning work?

Solar-powered air conditioning works a lot like conventional air conditioning — it sucks heat out of the air in your home, releasing it outside, to...

How much cooling power does a solar system have?

The results from their experiment showed that, when driven by the solar panels at average and maximum solar radiation of 570 and 880 W/m 2 respectively, the specific cooling power of the system (SCP) was as high as 208.2 W/kg.

Can solar-driven air-conditioning systems reduce energy consumption?

This paper has discussed different types of solar-driven air-conditioning systems that can serve as an alternative to reduce the energy consumption of conventional electrical driven air-conditioning systems. There are commercially available systems and systems that are limited to lab scale.

Are solar panels suitable for air-conditioning systems?

There are two different types of processes namely electric process and thermal process . The electric process will power the vapour compression cycle air-conditioning system. However, due to the large area required for the solar panel to generate electricity, it is not suitable for air-conditioning systems.

What is the solar fraction of a sadcs system?

From our simulation in TRNSYS, we found that the solar fraction of the SADCS system is as high as 63 %, with the average temperature and the relative humidity of an office space can reach down to an average of 20 °C and 60 % respectively, within the range of the thermal comfort level for the occupants.

Can solar energy be used in air conditioning?

One of the most attractive alternative solutions is the incorporation of solar energy into air conditioning and refrigeration unit, which is known as a 'solar-driven air conditioning' system, such system can promote green cooling technologies and many researchers have worked on in recent years .

What is solar adsorption air conditioning system (sadcs)?

Solar adsorption air conditioning system (SADCS) is an excellent alternative to the conventional vapour compression system (VCS).

Is the public interested in installing solar home systems in Ethiopia?

The government of Ethiopia in collaboration with development partners and private sector is promoting the distribution and installation of solar home systems to the rural communities. However, there is no clear data that shows the public is interested to install solar home systems.

Is Ethiopia a good place to invest in solar energy?

Ethiopia has a rapidly growing economy and offers tremendous opportunities to solar PV suppliers worldwide, having among the strongest solar resources in the world. In particular, the region offers excellent potential for off-grid energy systems with solar PV systems being promoted to replace fuel-based lighting and off-grid electrical needs.

Does Ethiopia have a solar energy system?

On the other hand, Ethiopia is largely endowed with sunshine. Solar energy systems fit for household use are already partly available in the country. However, they are imported goods of inferior quality that often break down after a few months and thus threaten people's trust in solar energy systems.

How will the centralized grid work in Ethiopia?

With the expected expansion plan, the centralized grid will supply electricity to around 65% of the Ethiopian population and the rest 35% will be off-grid based. Off-grid energy systems such as the solar home systems are believed to be the immediate solutions by the policy makers.

How can Ethiopia achieve universal electricity access by 2025?

In order to increase the electricity access, the Ethiopian government has launched National Electrification Program laying out the country's ambition towards universal access by 2025 through a combination of 65% grid-connected and 35% off-grid energy systems such as the solar home systems (SHS).

What is the Solar Home System project?

The Solar Home System project, which is implemented by atmosfair together with the young company fosera Manufacturing in Ethiopia, strives to effectively counteract this problem. Together, the project partners provide households with high quality yet affordable solar systems.

Are data centres and telecommunication base stations energy-saving?

Data centres (DCs) and telecommunication base stations (TBSs) are energy intensive with ∼40% of the energy consumption for cooling. Here, we provide a comprehensive review on recent research on energy-saving technologies for cooling DCs and TBSs, covering free-cooling, liquid-cooling, two-phase cooling and thermal energy storage based cooling.

How does a DC & TBS cooling system work?

3. Cooling methods and performance The cooling of DCs and TBSs is mainly achieved using computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units, which consists of a vapour compression refrigeration system for cooling and a cold/hot aisle layout (Fig. 3) (Nada et al., 2016).

How does a heat pipe based cooling system work?

Wang et al. developed a heat pipe based cooling system containing a phase change material (PCM) unit to extend the effective cooling time of the heat pipe and to maximize the use of the outdoor cooling source. This PCM unit was integrated with a condenser, absorbing cold energy from the external environment.

How does a water-side indirect free cooling system work?

Fig. 8 shows a water-side indirect free cooling system (Nadjahi et al., 2018), which usually uses a heat exchanger or a cooling tower to obtain the cold energy from the environment cold water to cool the indoor air in DCs and TBSs.

How to maintain the indoor temperature of a DC or TBS?

To maintain the indoor temperature of DCs or TBSs, the computer room air conditioning (CRAC) system and chilled-water system have been developed which are energy intensive (Borah et al., 2015) and contribute more carbon emissions.

Is immersion cooling better than single-phase cooling?

Kanbur et al. (2021) studied two different immersion cooling systems for DCs, including single-phase and two-phase systems (Fig. 10), and performed thermodynamic assessments. Their results showed that the two-phase immersion cooling system had a COP of 72–79% higher than that of the single-phase cooling system over a power range of 6.6–15.9 kW.