Energetic and financial analysis of solar cooling systems with single effect absorption chiller in various climates

The objective of this work is to investigate the solar cooling viability in various locations worldwide. A single stage absorption chiller operating with the LiBr-H2O working pair is coupled with evacuated tube collectors and this system produces the demanded cooling load for a typical building of 100 m(2) floor area. Ten cities are examined and the analysis is performed with the commercial software TRNSYS. For every city, different combinations of collecting areas and storage tank volumes are investigated in order to determine the optimum combination which leads to the minimum levelized cost of cooling (LCOC). According to the final results, Abu Dhabi and Phoenix are the most suitable locations with LCOC equal to 0.0575 (sic)/kWh and 0.0590 E/kWh respectively, while Rome, Madrid and Thessaloniki are the less suitable locations with 0.2125 (sic)/kWh and 0.1792 6/kWh and 0.1771 (sic)/kWh respectively. Moreover, it is found that the locations with high cooling loads and high solar potential are the most suitable locations for installing solar cooling. Furthermore, it is proved that higher collecting is associated with a greater optimum storage tank. Finally, the conclusions of this work can be used as guidelines for designing solar cooling system and determining the suitable locations and climate conditions for installing solar cooling systems. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.