Solar Air Conditioning for Buildings

In mediterranean countries hotels, hospitals and other public buildings apply air conditioning in the summer time. Present trend is for a continuous increase in the rate of penetration of air conditioning in new and existing service and public buildings. The result is a continuous increase in electricity demand and an increase in the electric peak load, because most of today’s air conditioning systems applied are based on vapour compression refrigerating systems electrically driven.Due to the fact that the cooling demand is simultaneous to the solar radiation it is expected that an integrated energy supply system consisting of flat plate collectors, an absorption refrigerating machine (ARM) in connection with a cogeneration system based on an internal combustion engine and/or a boiler can reduce the electricity demand and fossil fuel can be substituted through solar energy.The humid climate and an extended cooling season, which is typical of mediterranean countries, offer a lot of advantages to solar cooling. In particular, the use of collectors is not limited to a short season of a few months of the year. If cooling is to be included in an application of solar energy, it is obvious that the investment in the cooling system will be put to greater use in this climate.Subject of the paper is to discuss the possibility of saving fossil fuel through system examination and management of the solar driven absorption system. Finally the maximum solar collector prices will be estimated in a way that the system can be operated economical compared to compression refrigerating systems.