Solar assisted air conditioning of buildings - an overview

Goal of this contribution is to draw a picture about some general issues for using solar thermal energy for air conditioning of buildings. The following topics are covered: A basic analysis of the thermodynamic limits for the use of heat cooling in combination with solar thermal energy is drawn; thereby fundamental insights about control needs for solar thermal driven cooling are obtained. A short overview about the state-of-the-art of available technologies, such as closed thermal driven cooling cycles (e.g., absorption, adsorption) and open cooling cycles (e.g., desiccant employing either solid or liquid sorbents) is given and needs and perspectives for future developments are described. The state-of-the-art of application of solar assisted air-conditioning in Europe is given and some example installations are presented. An overview about new developments of open and closed heat driven cooling cycles for application in combination with solar thermal collectors is given and some of these new systems are outlined more in detail. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.