Optimum hot water temperature for absorption solar cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lecuona, A.; Ventas, R.; Venegas, M.; Salgado, R. [Dpto. Ingenieria Termica y de Fluidos, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Avda. Universidad 30, 28911 Leganes, Madrid (Spain); Zacarias, A. [ESIME UPA, IPN, Av. de las Granjas 682, Col. Santa Catarina, 02550, D.F. Mexico (Mexico)

2009-10-15

The hot water temperature that maximizes the overall instantaneous efficiency of a solar cooling facility is determined. A modified characteristic equation model is used and applied to single-effect lithium bromide-water absorption chillers. This model is based on the characteristic temperature difference and serves to empirically calculate the performance of real chillers. This paper provides an explicit equation for the optimum temperature of vapor generation, in terms of only the external temperatures of the chiller. The additional data required are the four performance parameters of the chiller and essentially a modified stagnation temperature from the detailed model of the thermal collector operation. This paper presents and discusses the results for small capacity machines for air conditioning of homes and small buildings. The discussion highlights the influence of the relevant parameters. (author)

Performance Analysis of XCPC Powered Solar Cooling Demonstration Project

Science.gov (United States)

Widyolar, Bennett K.

A solar thermal cooling system using novel non-tracking External Compound Parabolic Concentrators (XCPC) has been built at the University of California, Merced and operated for two cooling seasons. Its performance in providing power for space cooling has been analyzed. This solar cooling system is comprised of 53.3 m2 of XCPC trough collectors which are used to power a 23 kW double effect (LiBr) absorption chiller. This is the first system that combines both XCPC and absorption chilling technologies. Performance of the system was measured in both sunny and cloudy conditions, with both clean and dirty collectors. It was found that these collectors are well suited at providing thermal power to drive absorption cooling systems and that both the coinciding of available thermal power with cooling demand and the simplicity of the XCPC collectors compared to other solar thermal collectors makes them a highly attractive candidate for cooling projects.

Investigation of Absorption Cooling Application Powered by Solar Energy in the South Coast Region of Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozgoren M.

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, an absorption system using ammonia-water (NH3-H2O solution has been theoretically examined in order to meet the cooling need of a detached building having 150 m2 floor area for Antalya, Mersin and Mugla provinces in Turkey. Hourly dynamic cooling load capacities of the building were determined by using Radiant Time Series (RTS method in the chosen cities. For the analysis, hourly average meteorological data such as atmospheric air temperature and solar radiation belonging to the years 1998-2008 are used for performance prediction of the proposed system. Thermodynamic relations for each component of absorption cooling system is explained and coefficients of performance of the system are calculated. The maximum daily total radiation data were calculated as 7173 W/m2day on July 15, 7277 W/m2 day on July 19 and 7231 W/m2day on July 19 for Mersin, Antalya and Mugla, respectively on the 23° toward to south oriented panels from horizontal surface. The generator operating temperatures are considered between 90-130°C and the best result for 110°C is found the optimum degree for maximum coefficient of performance (COP values at the highest solar radiation occurred time during the considered days for each province. The COP values varies between 0.521 and 0.530 for the provinces. In addition, absorber and condenser capacities and thermal efficiency for the absorption cooling system were calculated. The necessary evacuated tube collector area for the different provinces were found in the range of 45 m2 to 47 m2. It is shown that although the initial investment cost is higher for the proposed absorption cooling system, it is economically feasible because of its lower annual operation costs and can successfully be operated for the considered provinces.

Experimental diagnosis of the influence of operational variables on the performance of a solar absorption cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venegas, M.; Rodriguez-Hidalgo, M.C.; Salgado, R.; Lecuona, A.; Rodriguez, P.; Gutierrez, G.

2011-01-01

This paper presents the analysis of the performance of a solar cooling facility along one summer season using a commercial single-effect water-lithium bromide absorption chiller aiming at domestic applications. The facility works only with solar energy using flat plate collectors and it is located at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain. The statistical analysis performed with the gathered data shows the influence of five daily operational variables on the system performance. These variables are solar energy received along the day (H) and the average values, along the operating period of the solar cooling facility (from sunrise to the end of the cold-water production), of the ambient temperature (T -bar ), the wind velocity magnitude (V), the wind direction (θ) and the relative humidity (RH). First order correlation functions are given. The analysis of the data allows concluding that the most influential variables on the daily cooling energy produced and the daily averaged solar COP are H, V and θ. The period length of cold-water production is determined mainly by H and T -bar .

Experimental diagnosis of the influence of operational variables on the performance of a solar absorption cooling system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Venegas, M.; Rodriguez-Hidalgo, M.C.; Lecuona, A.; Rodriguez, P.; Gutierrez, G. [Dpto. Ingenieria Termica y de Fluidos, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Avda. Universidad 30, 28911 Leganes, Madrid (Spain); Salgado, R. [Dpto. Ingenieria Mecanica, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Bayamon, 500 Carretera Dr. John Will Harris Bayamon, PR 00957-6257 (United States)

2011-04-15

This paper presents the analysis of the performance of a solar cooling facility along one summer season using a commercial single-effect water-lithium bromide absorption chiller aiming at domestic applications. The facility works only with solar energy using flat plate collectors and it is located at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain. The statistical analysis performed with the gathered data shows the influence of five daily operational variables on the system performance. These variables are solar energy received along the day (H) and the average values, along the operating period of the solar cooling facility (from sunrise to the end of the cold-water production), of the ambient temperature (anti T), the wind velocity magnitude (V), the wind direction ({theta}) and the relative humidity (RH). First order correlation functions are given. The analysis of the data allows concluding that the most influential variables on the daily cooling energy produced and the daily averaged solar COP are H, V and {theta}. The period length of cold-water production is determined mainly by H and anti T. (author)

Huge opportunity for solar cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowe, Daniel

2014-01-01

In Europe more than 400 solar cooling systems have been installed. By contrast, only a small number of solar cooling installations exist in Australia - primarily adsorption and absorption systems for commercial and hospitals - although these systems are growing. As with other renewable energy technologies, cost is a challenge. However solar cooling is currently competitive with other technologies, with some suggesting that system costs have been decreasing by about 20% per annum in recent times. Australia is also leading efforts in the development of residential solar desiccant technology, currently commercialising Australian-developed technology. Commercial and industrial enterprises are increasingly aware of the impact of demand charges, the potential to install technology as a hedge against future energy price rises and opportunities associated with increased on-site generation and reduced reliance on the grid, often necessitating on-site demand reduction and management. They are also driven by environmental and corporate social responsibility objectives as well as the opportunity for energy independence and uninterruptible operation. Interestingly, many of these interests are mirrdred at residential level, inspiring CSIRO's commercialisation of a domestic scale solar air conditioner with Australian manufacturer Brevis Climate Systems. Australia and other countries are increasingly aware of solar cooling as technology which can reduce or replace grid-powered cooling, particularly in applications where large building thermal energy requirements exist. In these applications, heating, cooling and hot water are generated and used in large amounts and the relative amounts of each can be varied dynamically, depending on building requirements. Recent demonstrations of solar cooling technology in Australia include Hunter TAFE's Solar Desiccant Cooling System - which provides heating, cooling and hot water to commercial training kitchens and classrooms - GPT

Solar-powered single-and double-effect directly air-cooled LiBr–H2O absorption prototype built as a single unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Izquierdo, M.; González-Gil, A.; Palacios, E.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • This work presents a novel solar cooling air-cooled absorption prototype for buildings. • The solution (LiB r –H 2 O) and the refrigerant (H 2 O) are cooled directly by air. • The cooling is produced from solar energy when operates in single-effect mode. • If the demand is not met the prototype is able to operate in double-effect mode. - Abstract: This work describes an installation in Madrid, Spain, designed to test a new solar-powered air-cooled absorption refrigeration system. This installation essentially consists of a-48 m 2 field of flat-plate solar collectors, a 1500-L hot water storage tank and a single and-double effect air-cooled lithium bromide absorption prototype. Designed and built by our research group, this prototype is able to operate either as a single-effect unit (4.5 kW) or as a double-effect unit (7 kW). In operation as single-effect mode, the prototype is driven by solar energy, whereas in operation as a double effect mode, an external energy source may be used. The prototype’s evaporator is connected to a fan-coil placed inside an 80-m 2 laboratory that represent the average size of a Spanish housing unit. In August 2009, the cooling system was tested in the single-effect operation mode. The results show that the system is able to meet approximately 65% of the laboratory’s seasonal cooling demand, although 100% may be reached for a few days. The prototype can also operate in double-effect mode to meet the cooling demand. In that case, the prototype is fed by thermal oil, which is warmed until it reaches the process temperature in the high-temperature generator. The prototype can operate in either single-effect mode or in double-effect mode or can also operate simultaneously both modes using the components common to both modes, namely, the absorber, evaporator, condenser, solution pumps and control equipment. This paper reports the experimental results from the prototype operating separately in single-effect and

Solar heating and cooling system with absorption chiller and low temperature latent heat storage: Energetic performance and operational experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Helm, M.; Keil, C.; Hiebler, S.; Mehling, H.; Schweigler, C. [Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern) (Germany)

2009-06-15

Absorption cooling systems based on water/lithium bromide (LiBr) solution typically require an open wet cooling tower to transfer the reject heat to the ambient. Yet, water consumption, the need for water make-up and cleaning, formation of fog, and the risk of Legionella bacteria growth are hindering factors for the implementation of small solar cooling systems. The application of a latent heat storage supporting the heat rejection of the absorption chiller in conjunction with a dry cooling system allows eliminating the wet cooling tower. By that means heat rejection of the chiller is shifted to periods with lower ambient temperatures, i.e. night time or off-peak hours. The system concept and the hydraulic scheme together with an analysis of the energetic performance of the system are presented, followed by a report on the operation of a first pilot installation. (author)

Strandby Harbour on solar cooling. Demonstration of 8.000 m{sup 2} solar collectors combined with flue gas cooling with a absorption cooling system; Combined heat and power plant (CHP); Strandby havn paa solkoeling. Demonstration af 8.000 m{sup 2} solfangere kombineret med roeggaskoeling med absorptionskoeleanlaeg

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soerensen, Flemming (Strandby Varmevaerk, Strandby (Denmark)); Soerensen, Per Alex (PlanEnergi, Skoerping (Denmark)); Ulbjerg, F. (Ramboell, Odense (Denmark)); Sloth, H. (Houe and Olsen, Thisted (Denmark))

2010-04-15

The aim of the project was to demonstrate 1) high solar heating ratio (18% annually) at a decentralized natural gas combined heat and power plant; 2) increased efficiency (5% of the heat consumption) in a natural gas CHP by using an extra flue gas cooler and an absorption heat pump; 3) a double tank system where a new tank during winter is used for cooling/ heat storage for the absorption heat pump and during summer for solar heat storage in serial operation with the old tank. The concept of combining solar power, absorption cooling and natural gas-fired small-scale CHP in Strandby met expectations and could be replicated in other CHP plants. However, it is important to note that if major construction modifications in the flue gas condensation system in the boiler or engine are required, the operating hours must not be reduced significantly in the amortisation period for the conversion. (ln)

Solar cooling systems. Classification and energetic evaluation; Solare Kuehlsysteme. Klassifizierung und energetische Bewertung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hennig, Jakob [Technische Univ. Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany); Hafner, Armin [SINTEF Energy Research, Trondheim (Norway); Eikevik, Trygve M. [NTNU, Trondheim (Norway)

2012-07-01

The investigation of alternative, sustainable concepts for cold production is worthwhile in times of increasing energy demand for cooling and air conditioning applications. Energy sources such as solar radiation can help to reduce the burden on the environment and energy networks. Solar electricity from photovoltaic cells or solar power from solar collectors can be used in refrigerating equipment (such as cold vapor compression chiller, absorption chiller, adsorption chillers, open systems, thermo-mechanical systems or ejector-based systems) are fed in order to produce the desired coldness. In many cases, the temporal coincidence of radiation supply and cooling requirements makes the solar cooling to a promising concept, especially at sites with a high solar radiation, large cooling demand, high energy prices, or insufficient access to public power grids. A model-based investigation of different solar cooling systems with an equivalent cooling capacity was carried out. The results show that the performance potential strongly depends on the selected technology and the site of the system. A balanced daily energy balance can be achieved with an appropriately dimensioned solar power plant with cooling concept. Depending on the system and interpretation, primary energy savings or a primary energy overhead can be achieved within a year in comparison to a conventional system.

Feasibility and Basic Design of Solar Integrated Absorption Refrigeration for an Industry

KAUST Repository

Akhtar, Saad

2015-08-28

This paper presents a review of existing solar cooling technologies and a feasibility study of a solar absorption cooling system for a packaging facility at Tetrapak Lahore, Pakistan. The review includes brief description of existing chiller technologies and solar collectors. The case study includes analysis of the solar potential and design of the cooling system at considered site. The design calculations upon which the feasibility analysis is carried out are solar collector area and type, cooling capacity, cooling area. A comparison is made between solar cooling potential of Pakistan and existing sites all across the globe. Finally an economic analysis is carried out to demonstrate the financial viability of the new cooling system.

Annual DOE active solar heating and cooling contractors' review meeting. Premeeting proceedings and project summaries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None,

1981-09-01

Ninety-three project summaries are presented which discuss the following aspects of active solar heating and cooling: Rankine solar cooling systems; absorption solar cooling systems; desiccant solar cooling systems; solar heat pump systems; solar hot water systems; special projects (such as the National Solar Data Network, hybrid solar thermal/photovoltaic applications, and heat transfer and water migration in soils); administrative/management support; and solar collector, storage, controls, analysis, and materials technology. (LEW)

Design, evaluation and recommedation effort relating to the modification of a residential 3-ton absorption cycle cooling unit for operation with solar energy

Science.gov (United States)

Merrick, R. H.; Anderson, P. P.

1973-01-01

The possible use of solar energy powered absorption units to provide cooling and heating of residential buildings is studied. Both, the ammonia-water and the water-lithium bromide cycles, are considered. It is shown that the air cooled ammonia water unit does not meet the criteria for COP and pump power on the cooling cycle and the heat obtained from it acting as a heat pump is at too low a temperature. If the ammonia machine is water cooled it will meet the design criteria for cooling but can not supply the heating needs. The water cooled lithium bromide unit meets the specified performance for cooling with appreciably lower generator temperatures and without a mechanical solution pump. It is recommeded that in the demonstration project a direct expansion lithium bromide unit be used for cooling and an auxiliary duct coil using the solar heated water be employed for heating.

Solar heating and cooling system installed at Leavenworth, Kansas

Science.gov (United States)

1980-01-01

A solar heating and cooling is described which is designed to furnish 90 percent of the overall heating load, 70 percent of the cooling load and 100 percent of the domestic hot water load. The building has two floors with a total of 12,000 square feet gross area. The system has 120 flat-plate liquid solar panels with a net area of 2,200 square feet. Five 3 ton Arkla solar assisted absorption units provide the cooling, in conjunction with a 3,000 gallon chilled water storage tank. Two 3,000 gallon storage tanks are provided with one designated for summer use, whereas both tanks are utilized during winter.

Cooling with solar energy - Tests in practice passed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lainsecq de, M.

2004-01-01

This article discusses the use of solar energy to provide summer cooling. Starting with centuries-old methods of adiabatic cooling used in the southern valleys of the Grisons in Switzerland, various methods of using solar energy to generate cold are examined. The article mentions the increasing load being placed on electricity supplies by conventional cooling systems and describes two real-life installations that use solar energy to generate cold. The first installation described uses evacuated tube collectors to provide around 45,000 kilowatt-hours of energy for an office complex, of which one third is used in summer to generate cold. The second installation features flat-plate collectors and two absorption refrigeration machines. Financial and environmental balances are presented and discussed

MULTIFUNCTIONAL SOLAR SYSTEMS FOR HEATING AND COOLING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doroshenko A.V.

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The basic circuits of multifunctional solar systems of air drainage, heating (hot water supply and heating, cooling and air conditioning are developed on the basis of open absorption cycle with a direct absorbent regeneration. Basic decisions for new generation of gas-liquid solar collectors are developed. Heat-mass-transfer apparatus included in evaporative cooling system, are based on film interaction of flows of gas and liquid and in them, for the creation of nozzle, multi-channel structures from polymeric materials and porous ceramics are used. Preliminary analysis of multifunctional systems possibilities is implemented.

SIMULATION OF SOLAR LITHIUM BROMIDE–WATER ABSORPTION COOLING SYSTEM WITH DOUBLE GLAZED FLAT PLATE COLLECTOR FOR ADRAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ML CHOUGUI

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Adrar is a city in the Sahara desert, in southern Algeria known for its hot and dry climate, where a huge amount of energy is used for air conditioning. The aim of this research is to simulate a single effect lithium bromide–water absorption chiller coupled to a double-glazed flat plate collector to supply the cooling loads for a house of 200m2 in Adrar. The thermal energy is stored in an insulated thermal storage tank. The system was designed to cover a cooling load of 10.39KW for design day of July. Thermodynamic model was established to simulate the absorption cycle. The results have shown that the collector mass flow rate has a negligible effect on the minimum required collector area, but it has a significant effect on the optimum capacity of the storage tank. The minimum required collector area was about 65.3 m2, which could supply the cooling loads for the sunshine hours of the design day for July. The operation of the system has also been considered after sunset by saving solar energy.

Solar radiation and cooling load calculation for radiant systems: Definition and evaluation of the Direct Solar Load

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Causone, Francesco; Corgnati, Stefano P.; Filippi, Marco

2010-01-01

The study of the influence of solar radiation on the built environment is a basic issue in building physics and currently it is extremely important because glazed envelopes are widely used in contemporary architecture. In the present study, the removal of solar heat gains by radiant cooling systems...... is investigated. Particular attention is given to the portion of solar radiation converted to cooling load, without taking part in thermal absorption phenomena due to the thermal mass of the room. This specific component of the cooling load is defined as the Direct Solar Load. A simplified procedure to correctly...... calculate the magnitude of the Direct Solar Load in cooling load calculations is proposed and it is implemented with the Heat Balance method and the Radiant Time Series method. The F ratio of the solar heat gains directly converted to cooling load, in the case of a low thermal mass radiant ceiling...

A parametric study of solar operated cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zagalei, Abdullatif Salin

2006-01-01

Because of energy for air conditioning has been the fastest-growing segment of energy of consumption market in Libya and generally in north Africa, and with the realization depleting nature of fossil fuel, solar cooling of buildings which leads to the improvement of human comfort represents a potentially significant application of solar energy where the availability of solar radiation meets with the cooling load demand. This application has been shown to be technically feasible but the equipment needs further investigative research to improve its performance and feasibility. A solar operated absorption cooling system with energy storage is selected. A latent heat storage would be a space saver for such application for solar energy. A system modeling is an essential activity in order to go for system simulation. A complete solar cooling system to be modeled through the thermodynamic analysis of each system components. Resulting a package of equations used directly to the system simulation in order to predict the system performance to obtain the optimum working conditions for the selected cooling system. A computer code which is used to simulate a series of calculations was written in Fortran language according to the constructed information flow diagram and simulation program flow char. For a typical input data a set of results are reported and discussed and shows that the selected system promises to be a good choice for air conditioning application in Libya specially for large building as storehouses, shopping centers, public administrative.(Author)

Exergetic and energetic comparison of LiCl-H_2O and LiBr-H_2O working pairs in a solar absorption cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellos, Evangelos; Tzivanidis, Christos; Antonopoulos, Kimon A.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Two working pairs (LiCl-H_2O and LiBr-H_2O) are examined in a solar absorption chiller. • The examined single effect absorption chiller is driven by flat plate collectors. • The system is analyzed energetically and energetically for 3 ambient temperatures. • LiCl-H_2O performs better than LiBr-H_2O in all the examined cases. • The optimum operating temperature is lower for the case of pair LiCl-H_2O. - Abstract: The objective of this study is to investigate the use of an alternative working pair in a solar absorption cooling system. LiCl-H_2O is the new examined pair and it is compared energetically and exegetically with the conventional pair LiBr-H_2O, which is the most usual in air-conditioning applications. The simplest solar cooling system is analyzed in order to focus in the comparison between these working fluids. Specifically, flat plate collectors, coupled with a storage tank, feed the single effect absorption chiller which produces 250 kW cooling at 10 °C. The two pairs are examined parametrically for various heat source temperature levels and for three ambient temperature levels (25 °C, 30 °C and 35 °C). The minimization of the collecting area, which means maximum exergetic efficiency, is the optimization goal in every case. The final results show that LiCl-H_2O pair performs better in all cases by giving greater exergetic efficiency. More specifically, about 8% lower collecting area is required to cover the demanded cooling load with this working pair. Another interesting result is that the optimum heat source temperature for the LiCl-H_2O is roughly lower than the respective for the LiBr-H_2O. The system is analyzed in steady state with the commercial software Engineering Equator Solver (EES).

Radiative cooling of solar absorbers using a visibly transparent photonic crystal thermal blackbody

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Linxiao; Raman, Aaswath P.; Fan, Shanhui

2015-01-01

A solar absorber, under the sun, is heated up by sunlight. In many applications, including solar cells and outdoor structures, the absorption of sunlight is intrinsic for either operational or aesthetic considerations, but the resulting heating is undesirable. Because a solar absorber by necessity faces the sky, it also naturally has radiative access to the coldness of the universe. Therefore, in these applications it would be very attractive to directly use the sky as a heat sink while preserving solar absorption properties. Here we experimentally demonstrate a visibly transparent thermal blackbody, based on a silica photonic crystal. When placed on a silicon absorber under sunlight, such a blackbody preserves or even slightly enhances sunlight absorption, but reduces the temperature of the underlying silicon absorber by as much as 13 °C due to radiative cooling. Our work shows that the concept of radiative cooling can be used in combination with the utilization of sunlight, enabling new technological capabilities. PMID:26392542

France uses the sun to cool its wine: the Banyuls winery solar cooling system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2003-12-01

The engineering consultancy Tecsol was asked to design a cooling system for a winery that would limit the variations in temperature during the year. Tecsol proposed a solar system. The total investment cost amounted to nearly two million French Francs (300,000 euros), almost double the cost of a conventional air-conditioning system. However, because the solar system reduced the conventional energy needs of the warehouse by about 40%, the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) provided a 37% subsidy for its rational use of energy. The 'Solarclim' solar installation has three functions: it produces hot water via 693 vacuum tube collectors with a useful surface of 130 m{sup 2}. The collectors are fixed to the roof of the wine cellar, which has an angle of 15 deg. Heat from the collectors is transferred to a 1000-litre hot water storage tank; it produces chilled water using a lithium bromide absorption plant with a nominal cooling capacity of 52 kW. This is housed in the technical premises on the lowest level and is used in conjunction with a 180 kW open-circuit cooling tower on the north facade; and the third function combines air-conditioning and, when necessary, space heating. The installation has been operating for 12 years with no particular problems. The equipment is environmentally friendly. The solar heat source avoids CO{sub 2} emissions, the absorption machine does not use CFCs or HCFCs, and the system is totally silent. (UK)

Solar heating and cooling of mobile homes, Phase II. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jacobsen, A.A.

1976-12-01

The specific objectives of the Phase II program were: (1) through system testing, confirm the feasibility of a solar heated and cooled mobile home; (2) update system performance analysis and provide solar heating and cooling computer model verification; (3) evaluate the performance of both an absorption and a Rankine air conditioning system; (4) perform a consumer demand analysis through field survey to ascertain the acceptance of solar energy into the mobile home market; and (5) while at field locations to conduct the consumer demand analysis, gather test data from various U.S. climatic zones. Results are presented and discussed. (WHK)

A dynamic model of an innovative high-temperature solar heating and cooling system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buonomano Annamaria

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper a new simulation model of a novel solar heating and cooling system based on innovative high temperature flat plate evacuated solar thermal collector is presented. The system configuration includes: flat-plate evacuated solar collectors, a double-stage LiBr-H2O absorption chiller, gas-fired auxiliary heater, a closed loop cooling tower, pumps, heat exchangers, storage tanks, valves, mixers and controllers. The novelty of this study lies in the utilization of flat-plate stationary solar collectors, manufactured by TVP Solar, rather than concentrating ones (typically adopted for driving double-stage absorption chillers. Such devices show ultra-high thermal efficiencies, even at very high (about 200°C operating temperatures, thanks to the high vacuum insulation. Aim of the paper is to analyse the energy and economic feasibility of such novel technology, by including it in a prototypal solar heating and cooling system. For this purpose, the solar heating and cooling system design and performance were analysed by means of a purposely developed dynamic simulation model, implemented in TRNSYS. A suitable case study is also presented. Here, the simulated plant is conceived for the space heating and cooling and the domestic hot water production of a small building, whose energy needs are fulfilled through a real installation (settled also for experimental purposes built up close to Naples (South Italy. Simulation results show that the investigated system is able to reach high thermal efficiencies and very good energy performance. Finally, the economic analysis shows results comparable to those achieved through similar renewable energy systems.

Solar cooling between thermal and photovoltaic: An energy and economic comparative study in the Mediterranean conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noro, M.; Lazzarin, R.M.

2014-01-01

This paper considers different cooling systems and investigates the most promising alternatives when solar energy is to be used to supply the cooling demand. All the systems are evaluated during a summer cooling season by the energetic and economic point of view by dynamic simulation for two different climates. For Milan (Cfb climate) the highest OSE (overall system efficiency) is reached by LiBr (lithium-bromide) double effect absorption chiller driven by parabolic through collector (0.53). In terms of the collecting surface area, the best systems for Milan feature 0.08 m 2  MJ −1 per day both for electric system (mono-crystalline photovoltaic coupled to water cooled chiller) and thermal system (PTC (parabolic trough collectors) coupled to double effect water-LiBr absorption chiller). Southern latitudes like Trapani (Csa climate) allow a quite better performance for thermal solar cooling solutions. The NPV (net present worths) of electric solar cooling solutions are favorable with respect to the traditional solution and the DPV (discounted payback periods) are all lower than the period of economic analysis above all for water cooled chillers. Finally a sensitivity analysis of the specific investment cost (€ MJ −1 per day) is carried out regarding the investment cost of collectors, the solar ratio and the interest rate. - Highlights: • Solar cooling is obtained with solar thermal or PV (photovoltaic) with easy available equipment. • In the past PV driven systems for solar cooling were not considered as too expensive. • An energy/economic comparison is carried out for the various solar cooling systems. • Sensitivity analyses are carried out varying different parameters

Energetic and economic evaluation of solar thermal and photovoltaic cooling system in Cuban hotel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Díaz Torres, Yamile; Valdivia Nodal, Yarelis; Castellanos Molina, Luis Miguel; Torres del Toro, Migdalia; Monteagudo Llanes, José

2015-01-01

The present paper discusses the energetic and economic feasibility of using two configurations of solar cooling in a Cuban Hotel. The air conditioning hybrid system schemes are: conventional system (Chiller) interconnected in parallel with a solar- powered absorption cooling system (SACS); and a photovoltaic cooling system (PCS). There were analyzed by methodologies and thermodynamic principles governing these technologies. The results show that their uses are alternatives for reducing energy consumption and environmental impact. (full text)

Solar-Heated and Cooled Office Building--Columbus, Ohio

Science.gov (United States)

1982-01-01

Final report documents solar-energy system installed in office building to provide space heating, space cooling and domestic hot water. Collectors mounted on roof track Sun and concentrate rays on fluid-circulating tubes. Collected energy is distributed to hot-water-fired absorption chiller and space-heating and domestic-hot-water preheating systems.

Economic analysis of solar assisted absorption chiller for a commercial building

Science.gov (United States)

Antonyraj, Gnananesan

Dwindling fossil fuels coupled with changes in global climate intensified the drive to make use of renewable energy resources that have negligible impact on the environment. In this attempt, the industrial community produced various devices and systems to make use of solar energy for heating and cooling of building space as well as generate electric power. The most common components employed for collection of solar energy are the flat plate and evacuated tube collectors that produce hot water that can be employed for heating the building space. In order to cool the building, the absorption chiller is commonly employed that requires hot water at high temperatures for its operation. This thesis deals with economic analysis of solar collector and absorption cooling system to meet the building loads of a commercial building located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Computer simulations are employed to predict the hourly building loads and performance of the flat plate and evacuated tube solar collectors using the hourly weather data. The key variables affecting the economic evaluation of such system are identified and the influence of these parameters is presented. The results of this investigation show that the flat plate solar collectors yield lower payback period compared to the evacuated tube collectors and economic incentives offered by the local and federal agencies play a major role in lowering the payback period.

Solar heating and cooling system installed at Leavenworth, Kansas. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perkins, R. M.

1980-06-01

The solar heating and cooling system installed at the headquarters of Citizens Mutual Savings Association in Leavenworth, Kansas, is described in detail. The project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's solar demonstration program and became operational in March, 1979. The designer was TEC, Inc. Consulting Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri and contractor was Norris Brothers, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. The solar system is expected to furnish 90 percent of the overall heating load, 70 percent of the cooling load and 100 percent of the domestic hot water load. The building has two floors with a total of 12,000 square feet gross area. The system has 120 flat-plate liquid solar panels with a net area of 2200 square feet. Five, 3-ton Arkla solar assisted absorption units provide the cooling, in conjunction with a 3000 gallon chilled water storage tank. Two, 3000 gallon storage tanks are provided with one designated for summer use, whereas both tanks are utilized during winter.

Measured performance of a 3 ton LiBr absorption water chiller and its effect on cooling system operation

Science.gov (United States)

Namkoong, D.

1976-01-01

A three ton lithium bromide absorption water chiller was tested for a number of conditions involving hot water input, chilled water, and the cooling water. The primary influences on chiller capacity were the hot water inlet temperature and the cooling water inlet temperature. One combination of these two parameters extended the output to as much as 125% of design capacity, but no combination could lower the capacity to below 60% of design. A cooling system was conceptually designed so that it could provide several modes of operation. Such flexibility is needed for any solar cooling system to be able to accommodate the varying solar energy collection and the varying building demand. It was concluded that a three-ton absorption water chiller with the kind of performance that was measured can be incorporated into a cooling system such as that proposed, to provide efficient cooling over the specified ranges of operating conditions.

Measured performance of a 3-ton LiBr absorption water chiller and its effect on cooling system operation

Science.gov (United States)

Namkoong, D.

1976-01-01

A 3-ton lithium bromide absorption water chiller was tested for a number of conditions involving hot-water input, chilled water, and the cooling water. The primary influences on chiller capacity were the hot water inlet temperature and the cooling water inlet temperature. One combination of these two parameters extended the output to as much as 125% of design capacity, but no combination could lower the capacity to below 60% of design. A cooling system was conceptually designed so that it could provide several modes of operation. Such flexibility is needed for any solar cooling system to be able to accommodate the varying solar energy collection and the varying building demand. It is concluded that a 3-ton absorption water chiller with the kind of performance that was measured can be incorporated into a cooling system such as that proposed, to provide efficient cooling over the specified ranges of operating conditions.

Absorption technology for solar and waste heat utilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grossman, G.

1993-01-01

Absorption heat pumps, first developed in the 19th century, have received renewed and growing attention in the past two decades. With the increasing cost of oil and electricity, the particular features of this heat-powered cycle have made it attractive for both residential and industrial applications. Solar-powered air conditioning, gas-fired domestic cooling and waste-heat-powered temperature boosters are some of the applications on which intensive research and development has been conducted. This paper describes the operation of absorption systems and discusses several practical applications. It surveys recent advances in absorption technology, including the selection of working fluids, cycle improvements and multi-staging, and fundamentals of the combined heat and mass transfer in absorption processes. (author)

Solar cooling. Dynamic computer simulations and parameter variations; Solare Kuehlung. Dynamische Rechnersimulationen und Parametervariationen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adam, Mario; Lohmann, Sandra [Fachhochschule Duesseldorf (Germany). E2 - Erneuerbare Energien und Energieeffizienz

2011-05-15

The research project 'Solar cooling in the Hardware-in-the-Loop-Test' is funded by the BMBF and deals with the modeling of a pilot plant for solar cooling with the 17.5 kW absorption chiller of Yazaki in the simulation environment of MATLAB/ Simulink with the toolboxes Stateflow and CARNOT. Dynamic simulations and parameter variations according to the work-efficient methodology of design of experiments are used to select meaningful system configurations, control strategies and dimensioning of the components. The results of these simulations will be presented and a view of the use of acquired knowledge for the planned laboratory field tests on a hardware-in-the-loop test stand will be given. (orig.)

Solar cooling - comparative study between thermal and electrical use in industrial buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Badea, N.; Badea, G. V.; Epureanu, A.; Frumuşanu, G.

2016-08-01

The increase in the share of renewable energy sources together with the emphasis on the need for energy security bring to a spotlight the field of trigeneration autonomous microsystems, as a solution to cover the energy consumptions, not only for isolated industrial buildings, but also for industrial buildings located in urban areas. The use of solar energy for cooling has been taken into account to offer a cooling comfort in the building. Cooling and air- conditioned production are current applications promoting the use of solar energy technologies. Solar cooling systems can be classified, depending on the used energy, in electrical systems using mechanical compression chillers and systems using thermal compression by absorption or adsorption. This comparative study presents the main strengths and weaknesses of solar cooling obtained: i) through the transformation of heat resulted from thermal solar panels combined with adsorption chillers, and ii) through the multiple conversion of electricity - photovoltaic panels - battery - inverter - combined with mechanical compression chillers. Both solutions are analyzed from the standpoints of energy efficiency, dynamic performances (demand response), and costs sizes. At the end of the paper, experimental results obtained in the climatic condition of Galafi city, Romania, are presented.

Solar heating and cooling system installed at RKL Controls Company, Lumberton, New Jersey. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1981-03-01

Solar heating and cooling of a 40,000 square foot manufacturing building, sales offices and the solar computer control center/display room are described. Information on system description, test data, major problems and resolutions, performance, operation and maintenance manual, manufacturer's literature and as-built drawings are provided also. The solar system is composed of 6000 square feet of Sunworks double glazed flat plate collectors, external above ground storage subsystem, controls, ARKLA absorption chiller, heat recovery and a cooling tower.

The development of a solar residential heating and cooling system

Science.gov (United States)

1975-01-01

The MSFC solar heating and cooling facility was assembled to demonstrate the engineering feasibility of utilizing solar energy for heating and cooling buildings, to provide an engineering evaluation of the total system and the key subsystems, and to investigate areas of possible improvement in design and efficiency. The basic solar heating and cooling system utilizes a flat plate solar energy collector, a large water tank for thermal energy storage, heat exchangers for space heating, and an absorption cycle air conditioner for space cooling. A complete description of all systems is given. Development activities for this test system included assembly, checkout, operation, modification, and data analysis, all of which are discussed. Selected data analyses for the first 15 weeks of testing are included, findings associated with energy storage and the energy storage system are outlined, and conclusions resulting from test findings are provided. An evaluation of the data for summer operation indicates that the current system is capable of supplying an average of 50 percent of the thermal energy required to drive the air conditioner. Preliminary evaluation of data collected for operation in the heating mode during the winter indicates that nearly 100 percent of the thermal energy required for heating can be supplied by the system.

Theoretical thermodynamics analysis of cooling cycle bu advanced gas absorption using solar energy; Analisis teorico-experimental de un ciclo de refrigeracion por absorcion avanzado gax, operando con energia solar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gomez, V. E.; Vidal, A. S.; Garcia, C. A.; Garcia-Valladares, O.; Best, R. B.; Hernandez, J. G.; Velazquez, N. L.

2004-07-01

In this article a solar system of refrigeration by absorption with heat exchange generator absorber (GAX) was analyzed. A theoretical thermodynamic analysis of the energetic behavior of the GAX absorption system was made. Experimental results were obtained with generation temperatures of 190 and 220 C, the evaporation temperature was set at 9 C and temperatures of cooling fluids (air and water) were set at 30 C and 28 C, respectively. It was possible to appreciate that the GAX effect decrease whether absorber, type falling film, is operated in option of parallel flow and it was increased when the absorber was operated in option of counterflow. (Author)

Initial operation of a solar heating and cooling system in a full-scale solar building test facility

Science.gov (United States)

Knoll, R. H.; Miao, D.; Hamlet, I. L.; Jensen, R. N.

1976-01-01

The Solar Building Test Facility (SBTF) located at Hampton, Virginia became operational in early summer of 1976. This facility is a joint effort by NASA-Lewis and NASA-Langley to advance the technology for heating and cooling of office buildings with solar energy. Its purposes are to (1) test system components which include high-performing collectors, (2) test performance of complete solar heating and cooling system, (3) investigate component interactions and (4) investigate durability, maintenance and reliability of components. The SBTF consists of a 50,000 square foot office building modified to accept solar heated water for operation of an absorption air conditioner and for the baseboard heating system. A 12,666 square foot solar collector field with a 30,000 gallon storage tank provides the solar heated water. A description of the system and the collectors selected is given here, along with the objectives, test approach, expected system performance and some preliminary results.

Solar heating, cooling, and hot water systems installed at Richland, Washington

Science.gov (United States)

1979-01-01

The project described is part of the U. S. Department of Energy's solar demonstration program, and became operational in April 1978. The solar system uses 6,000 square feet of flat-plate liquid collectors in a closed loop to deliver solar energy through a liquid-liquid heat exchanger to the building heat-pump duct work or 9,000-gallon thermal energy storage tank. A 25-ton Arkla solar-driven absorption chiller provides the cooling, in conjunction with a 2,000 gallon chilled water storage tank and reflective ponds on three sides of the building surplus heat. A near-by building is essentially identical except for having conventional heat-pump heating and cooling, and can serve as an experimental control. An on-going public relations program was provided from the beginning of the program, and resulted in numerous visitors and tour groups.

Solar-assisted absorption air-conditioning systems in buildings: Control strategies and operational modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirazi, Ali; Pintaldi, Sergio; White, Stephen D.; Morrison, Graham L.; Rosengarten, Gary; Taylor, Robert A.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A simulation model of a solar driven absorption chiller is developed in detail. • Three control strategies were proposed in the solar loop of the plant. • Series and parallel auxiliary heater arrangements were investigated. • The results showed the auxiliary-heater in parallel outperformed the series one. • Solar fraction can be increased by 20% by implementing the proposed configuration. - Abstract: Solar-assisted cooling technology has enormous potential for air-conditioning applications since both solar energy supply and cooling energy demand are well correlated. Unfortunately, market uptake of solar cooling technologies has been slow due to the high capital cost and limited design/operational experience. In the present work, different designs and operational modes for solar heating and cooling (SHC) absorption chiller systems are investigated and compared in order to identify the preferred design strategies for these systems. Three control scenarios are proposed for the solar collector loop. The first uses a constant flow pump, while the second and third control schemes employ a variable speed pump, where the solar collector (SC) set-point temperature could be either fixed or adjusted to the required demand. Series and parallel arrangements, between the auxiliary heater and the storage tank, have been examined in detail from an energy efficiency perspective. A simulation model for different system layouts is developed in the transient system simulation environment (TRNSYS, Version 17). Simulation results revealed that the total solar fraction of the plant is increased by up to 11% when a variable speed solar loop pump is used to achieve a collector set-point temperature adjusted according to the building load demand. Another significant finding of this study is that a parallel configuration for the auxiliary heater out-performs a conventional series configuration. The yearly performance of an auxiliary heater in parallel with the storage

The Role of Absorption Cooling for Reaching Sustainable Energy Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lindmark, Susanne

2005-07-01

This thesis focuses on the role and potential of absorption cooling in future energy systems. Two types of energy systems are investigated: a district energy system based on waste incineration and a distributed energy system with natural gas as fuel. In both cases, low temperature waste heat is used as driving energy for the absorption cooling. The main focus is to evaluate the absorption technology in an environmental perspective, in terms of reduced CO{sub 2} emissions. Economic evaluations are also performed. The reduced electricity when using absorption cooling instead of compression cooling is quantified and expressed as an increased net electrical yield. The results show that absorption cooling is an environmentally friendly way to produce cooling as it reduces the use of electrically driven cooling in the energy system and therefore also reduces global CO{sub 2} emissions. In the small-scale trigeneration system the electricity use is lowered with 84 % as compared to cooling production with compression chillers only. The CO{sub 2} emissions can be lowered to 45 CO{sub 2}/MWh{sub c} by using recoverable waste heat as driving heat for absorption chillers. However, the most cost effective cooling solution in a district energy system is a combination between absorption and compression cooling technologies according to the study. Absorption chillers have the potential to be suitable bottoming cycles for power production in distributed systems. Net electrical yields over 55 % may be reached in some cases with gas motors and absorption chillers. This small-scale system for cogeneration of power and cooling shows electrical efficiencies comparable to large-scale power plants and may contribute to reducing peak electricity demand associated with the cooling demand.

Maximum Exergetic Efficiency Operation of a Solar Powered H2O-LiBr Absorption Cooling System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camelia Stanciu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A solar driven cooling system consisting of a single effect H2O-LiBr absorbtion cooling module (ACS, a parabolic trough collector (PTC, and a storage tank (ST module is analyzed during one full day operation. The pressurized water is used to transfer heat from PTC to ST and to feed the ACS desorber. The system is constrained to operate at the maximum ACS exergetic efficiency, under a time dependent cooling load computed on 15 July for a one storey house located near Bucharest, Romania. To set up the solar assembly, two commercial PTCs were selected, namely PT1-IST and PTC 1800 Solitem, and a single unit ST was initially considered. The mathematical model, relying on the energy balance equations, was coded under Engineering Equation Solver (EES environment. The solar data were obtained from the Meteonorm database. The numerical simulations proved that the system cannot cover the imposed cooling load all day long, due to the large variation of water temperature inside the ST. By splitting the ST into two units, the results revealed that the PT1-IST collector only drives the ACS between 9 am and 4:30 pm, while the PTC 1800 one covers the entire cooling period (9 am–6 pm for optimum ST capacities of 90 kg/90 kg and 90 kg/140 kg, respectively.

Experimental Investigation on an Absorption Refrigerator Driven by Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zi-Jie Chien

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This experiment is to study an absorption refrigerator driven by solar cells. Hand-held or carried in vehicle can be powered by solar energy in places without power. In the evenings or rainy days, it is powered by storage battery, and it can be directly powered by alternating current (AC power supply if available, and the storage battery can be charged full as a backup supply. The proposed system was tested by the alternation of solar irradiance 550 to 700 W/m2 as solar energy and 500ml ambient temperature water as cooling load. After 160 minutes, the proposal refrigerator can maintain the temperature at 5–8°C, and the coefficient of performance (COP of NH3-H2O absorption refrigeration system is about 0.25. Therefore, this system can be expected to be used in remote areas for refrigeration of food and beverages in outdoor activities in remote and desert areas or long-distance road transportation of food or low temperature refrigeration of vaccine to avoid the deterioration of the food or the vaccines.

Performance assesment of solar heating and cooling systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shesho, Igor; Armenski, Slave [Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, ' Ss. Cyril and Methodius' University, Skopje (Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of); others, and

2014-07-01

Thermal performance of the solar thermal systems are estimated using numerical methods and software since the solar processes are transitient in nature been driven by time dependent forcing functions and loads. The system components are defined with mathematical relationships that describe how components function. They are based on the first principles (energy balances, mass balances, rate equations and equilibrium relationships) at one extreme or empirical curve fits to operating data from specific machines such as absorption chillers. The component models are programed, i.e. they represent written subroutines which are simultaneously solved with the executive program. In this paper for executive program is chosen TRNSYS containing library with solar thermal system component models. Validation of the TRNSYS components models is performed, i.e. the simulation results are compared with experimental measurements. Analysis is performed for solar assisted cooling system in order to determine the solar fractions and efficiencies for different collector types, areas and storage tanks. Specific indicators are derived in order to facilitate the techno-economic analysis and design of solar air-conditioning systems. (Author)

Hybrid solar receiver as a source of high-temperature medium for an absorption chiller supply

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Przenzak Estera

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the problems related with the cold production, i.e. energy efficiency of the process. The idea of solar cooling systems has been presented as the solution of the problem of big electricity demand. The paper discusses the principle of the operation of absorption chillers. Disadvantages and advantages of the solar cooling systems were discussed. The installation for manufacturing high-temperature heat based on solar collectors and concentrator of solar radiation constructed in AGH in Cracow has been presented. This installation is a first stage of projected, complete solar cooling system. The special attention is paid to the dedicated solar high-temperature heat receiver as a most important element of the system. The achieved values of temperature, power and efficiency depending on the working medium flow has been presented and discussed. The intensity of solar radiation during the measurements has been taken into account. Two versions of heat receiver were investigated: non-insulated and insulated with mineral wool. The obtained efficiency of the heat receiver (less than 30% is not satisfactory but possibility of improvements exist.

Solar-Cooled Hotel in the Virgin Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Harber, H.

1982-01-01

Performance of solar cooling system is described in 21-page report. System provides cooling for public areas including ball rooms, restaurant, lounge, lobby and shops. Chilled water from solar-cooling system is also used to cool hot water from hotel's desalinization plant.

Evaluation of solar thermal driven cooling system in office buildings in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Linjawi, Majid T.; Talal, Qazi; Al-Sulaiman, Fahad A.

2017-11-01

In this study solar driven absorption chiller is used to reduce the peak cooling load in office buildings in Saudi Arabia for different selected cities. The study is conducted for six cities of Abha, Dhahran, Hail, Jeddah, Nejran and Riyadh under three operating durations of 4, 6, and 8 hours using flat plate or evacuated tube collectors. The energy analysis concluded that flat plate collectors are better than evacuated tube collectors. However, the results from economic analysis suggest that while proposing a gas fired absorption chiller will reduce running costs, further reduction by using solar collectors is not feasible because of its high initial cost. At the best case scenario the Net Present Value of a 10 Ton Absorption chiller operated by natural gas boiler and two large flat plate collectors (12m2 each) running for 8 hours/day, 5days/week has a value of 117,000 and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 12%. Solar driven absorption chiller could be more feasible if the gas prices increases or the solar collector prices decreases significantly. Finally, government economic incentives and taxes are recommended to provide a boost for the feasibility of such projects.

Solar cooling in the hardware-in-the-loop test; Solare Kuehlung im Hardware-in-the-Loop-Test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lohmann, Sandra; Radosavljevic, Rada; Goebel, Johannes; Gottschald, Jonas; Adam, Mario [Fachhochschule Duesseldorf (Germany). Erneuerbare Energien und Energieeffizienz E2

2012-07-01

The first part of the BMBF-funded research project 'Solar cooling in the hardware-in-the-loop test' (SoCool HIL) deals with the simulation of a solar refrigeration system using the simulation environment Matlab / Simulink with the toolboxes Stateflow and Carnot. Dynamic annual simulations and DoE supported parameter variations were used to select meaningful system configurations, control strategies and dimensioning of components. The second part of this project deals with hardware-in-the-loop tests using the 17.5 kW absorption chiller of the company Yazaki Europe Limited (Hertfordshire, United Kingdom). For this, the chiller is operated on a test bench in order to emulate the behavior of other system components (solar circuit with heat storage, recooling, buildings and cooling distribution / transfer). The chiller is controlled by a simulation of the system using MATLAB / Simulink / Carnot. Based on the knowledge on the real dynamic performance of the chiller the simulation model of the chiller can then be validated. Further tests are used to optimize the control of the chiller to the current cooling load. In addition, some changes in system configurations (for example cold backup) are tested with the real machine. The results of these tests and the findings on the dynamic performance of the chiller are presented.

Technology Roadmaps: Solar Heating and Cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-09-06

The solar heating and cooling (SHC) roadmap outlines a pathway for solar energy to supply almost one sixth (18 EJ) of the world's total energy use for both heating and cooling by 2050. This would save some 800 megatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year; more than the total CO2 emissions in Germany in 2009. While solar heating and cooling today makes a modest contribution to world energy demand, the roadmap envisages that if concerted action is taken by governments and industry, solar energy could annually produce more than 16% of total final energy use for low temperature heat and nearly 17% for cooling. Given that global energy demand for heat represents almost half of the world's final energy use -- more than the combined global demand for electricity and transport -- solar heat can make a significant contribution in both tackling climate change and strengthening energy security.

Technology Roadmaps: Solar Heating and Cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

The solar heating and cooling (SHC) roadmap outlines a pathway for solar energy to supply almost one sixth (18 EJ) of the world’s total energy use for both heating and cooling by 2050. This would save some 800 megatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year; more than the total CO2 emissions in Germany in 2009. While solar heating and cooling today makes a modest contribution to world energy demand, the roadmap envisages that if concerted action is taken by governments and industry, solar energy could annually produce more than 16% of total final energy use for low temperature heat and nearly 17% for cooling. Given that global energy demand for heat represents almost half of the world’s final energy use – more than the combined global demand for electricity and transport – solar heat can make a significant contribution in both tackling climate change and strengthening energy security.

Solar air-conditioning. Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-07-01

Within the 3rd International Conference on solar air-conditioning in Palermo (Italy) at 30th September to 2nd October, 2009 the following lectures were held: (1) Removal of non-technological barriers to solar cooling technology across Southern European islands (Stefano Rugginenti); (2) The added economic and environmental value of solar thermal systems in microgrids with combined heat and power (Chris Marney); (3) Australian solar cooling interest group (Paul Kohlenbach); (4) Designing of a technology roadmap for solar assisted air conditioning in Austria (Hilbert Focke); (5) Solar cooling in the new context of renewable policies at European level (Raffaele Piria); (6) Prototype of a solar driven steam jet ejector chiller (Clemens Pollerberg); (7) New integrated solar air conditioning system (Joan Carlos Bruno); (8) Primary energy optimised operation of solar driven desiccant evaporative cooling systems through innovative control strategies; (9) Green chiller association (Uli Jakob); (10) Climate Well {sup registered} (Olof Hallstrom); (11) Low capacity absorption chillers for solar cooling applications (Gregor Weidner); (12) Solar cooling in residential, small scale commercial and industrial applications with adsorption technology (Walter Mittelbach); (13) French solar heating and cooling development programme based on energy performance (Daniel Mugnier); (14) Mirrox fresnel process heat collectors for industrial applications and solar cooling (Christian Zahler); (15) Modelling and analyzing solar cooling systems in polysun (Seyen Hossein Rezaei); (16) Solar cooling application in Valle Susa Italy (Sufia Jung); (17) Virtual case study on small solar cooling systems within the SolarCombi+Project (Bjoern Nienborg); (18) Design of solar cooling plants under uncertainty (Fernando Dominguez-Munoz); (19) Fast pre-design of systems using solar thermally driven chillers (Hans-Martin Henning); (20) Design of a high fraction solar heating and cooling plant in southern

System technology improves the chances of solar cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmid, W.

2008-01-01

This article takes a look at the increasing range of products on offer in the solar cooling area. Such an increase applies in particular to products in the low and medium power ranges under 30 kilowatts. Several hindrances to the expansion of the solar air-conditioning (SAC) market are named, both in the technological as well as in the operational area. The author states that a considerable amount of optimisation work is still to be done. Market offerings using absorption and adsorption techniques are examined, as are silica gel-based systems. Companies in the German-speaking parts of Europe active in the area are listed and their work is reviewed. The opinions of various experts that were presented at a congress on the subject are noted. Planning tools made available by the International Energy Agency's Task 38 'Solar air-conditioning and refrigeration' are mentioned.

Solar heating and cooling.

Science.gov (United States)

Duffie, J A

1976-01-01

Solar energy is discussed as an energy resource that can be converted into useful energy forms to meet a variety of energy needs. The review briefly explains the nature of this energy resource, the kinds of applications that can be made useful, and the status of several systems to which it has been applied. More specifically, information on solar collectors, solar water heating, solar heating of buildings, solar cooling plus other applications, are included.

Performance optimization of solar driven small-cooled absorption–diffusion chiller working with light hydrocarbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sayadi, Zouhour [U.R. Thermique et Thermodynamique des Procédés Industriels, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Monastir (ENIM), Av. Ibn Jazzar, 5060 Monastir (Tunisia); Ben Thameur, Nizar, E-mail: nizarbenthameur@yahoo.fr [U.R. Thermique et Thermodynamique des Procédés Industriels, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Monastir (ENIM), Av. Ibn Jazzar, 5060 Monastir (Tunisia); Bourouis, Mahmoud [Mechanical Engineering Department, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 Tarragona (Spain); Bellagi, Ahmed [U.R. Thermique et Thermodynamique des Procédés Industriels, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Monastir (ENIM), Av. Ibn Jazzar, 5060 Monastir (Tunisia)

2013-10-15

Highlights: • 1 kW{sub cooling} diffusion/absorption machine with light hydrocarbons as working fluids. • Hysys optimization to choose the optimal mixture for a better machine performance. • Cooling loads for a small bed-room (16 m{sup 2}) have been estimated into TRNSYS. • Economic assessment to choose the best combination of solar equipments. • Energy savings, CO{sub 2} avoided and equivalent gasoil and Diesel saved energy. - Abstract: We present in this paper a HYSYS (Aspen One) model and simulation results for 1 kW capacity water-cooled absorption/diffusion machine using different binary mixtures of light hydrocarbons as working fluids (C{sub 3}/n-C{sub 6}, C{sub 3}/c-C{sub 6}, C{sub 3}/c-C{sub 5}, propylene/c-C{sub 5}, propylene/i-C{sub 4}, propylene/i-C{sub 5}) in combination with helium as inert gas. The driving heat is supposed to be provided by an evacuated solar collector field. TRNSYS is used to address the solar aspects of the simulations. For the optimal chiller the driving heat temperature was found to be 121 °C for an evaporator exit temperature of 0 °C. The cooling water flow rate circulating between chiller and cooling tower is 140 l/h. Bubble pump and generator are heated by pressurized water from an insulated tank (70 l/m{sup 2}) maintained at a maximum temperature of 126 °C – with make-up heat when needed – and storing solar heat at an estimated 4.2 kW power. The solar energy cover only 40% for the energy supplied to drive the chiller. It’s found that the necessary collector surface area is about 6 m{sup 2} with annually total costs of 1.60 €/kW h with 20 years lifetime period for the installation. The avoided CO{sub 2} emissions are estimated at 1396 kg. The equivalent saved energy is 521 l of diesel or 604 l of gasoline.

Performance optimization of solar driven small-cooled absorption–diffusion chiller working with light hydrocarbons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayadi, Zouhour; Ben Thameur, Nizar; Bourouis, Mahmoud; Bellagi, Ahmed

2013-01-01

Highlights: • 1 kW cooling diffusion/absorption machine with light hydrocarbons as working fluids. • Hysys optimization to choose the optimal mixture for a better machine performance. • Cooling loads for a small bed-room (16 m 2 ) have been estimated into TRNSYS. • Economic assessment to choose the best combination of solar equipments. • Energy savings, CO 2 avoided and equivalent gasoil and Diesel saved energy. - Abstract: We present in this paper a HYSYS (Aspen One) model and simulation results for 1 kW capacity water-cooled absorption/diffusion machine using different binary mixtures of light hydrocarbons as working fluids (C 3 /n-C 6 , C 3 /c-C 6 , C 3 /c-C 5 , propylene/c-C 5 , propylene/i-C 4 , propylene/i-C 5 ) in combination with helium as inert gas. The driving heat is supposed to be provided by an evacuated solar collector field. TRNSYS is used to address the solar aspects of the simulations. For the optimal chiller the driving heat temperature was found to be 121 °C for an evaporator exit temperature of 0 °C. The cooling water flow rate circulating between chiller and cooling tower is 140 l/h. Bubble pump and generator are heated by pressurized water from an insulated tank (70 l/m 2 ) maintained at a maximum temperature of 126 °C – with make-up heat when needed – and storing solar heat at an estimated 4.2 kW power. The solar energy cover only 40% for the energy supplied to drive the chiller. It’s found that the necessary collector surface area is about 6 m 2 with annually total costs of 1.60 €/kW h with 20 years lifetime period for the installation. The avoided CO 2 emissions are estimated at 1396 kg. The equivalent saved energy is 521 l of diesel or 604 l of gasoline

Early developments in solar cooling equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Price, J. M.

1978-01-01

A brief description of a development program to design, fabricate and field test a series of solar operated or driven cooling devices, undertaken by the Marshall Space Flight Center in the context of the Solar Heating and Cooling Demonstration Act of 1974, is presented. Attention is given to two basic design concepts: the Rankine cycle principle and the use of a dessicant for cooling.

Development of a direct solar driven diffusion absorption chiller; Entwicklung einer direkt solarthermisch angetriebenen Diffusions-Absorptionskaeltemaschine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmid, Fabian; Bierling, Bernd; Spindler, Klaus [Stuttgart Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Thermodynamik und Waermetechnik (ITW)

2013-03-15

At the ITW, a decentralized solar cooling system is developed based on the diffusion-absorption refrigeration cycle. The generator and the bubble pump of the process are integrated in a solar collector, and therefore directly heated. The main research focus after reaching a stable operation of the system is a detailed investigation of the auxiliary gas circuit. (orig.)

Thermoeconomic optimization of Solar Heating and Cooling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calise, F.; D'Accadia, M. Dentice; Vanoli, L.

2011-01-01

In the paper, the optimal thermoeconomic configuration of Solar Heating and Cooling systems (SHC) is investigated. In particular, a case study is presented, referred to an office building located in Naples (south Italy); for such building, three different SHC configurations were analyzed: the first one is based on the coupling of evacuated solar collectors with a single-stage LiBr-H 2 O absorption chiller equipped with a water-to-water electrical heat pump, to be used in case of insufficient solar radiation; in the second case, a similar layout is considered, but the capacities of the absorption chiller and the solar field are smaller, since they are requested to balance just a fraction of the total cooling load of the building selected for the case study; finally, in the third case, the electric heat pump is replaced by an auxiliary gas-fired heater. A zero-dimensional transient simulation model, developed in TRNSYS, was used to analyze each layout from both thermodynamic and economic points of view. In particular, a cost model was developed in order to assess the owning and operating costs for each plant layout. Furthermore, a mixed heuristic-deterministic optimization algorithm was implemented in order to determine the set of the synthesis/design variables able to maximize the overall thermo-economic performance of the systems under analysis. For this purpose, two different objective functions were selected: the Pay-Back Period and the overall annual cost. Possible public funding, in terms of Capital Cost Contributions and/or feed-in tariff, were also considered. The results are presented on monthly and weekly basis, paying special attention to the energy and monetary flows in the optimal configurations. In particular, the thermoeconomic analysis and optimization showed that a good funding policy for the promotion of such technologies should combine a feed-in tariff with a slight Capital Cost Contribution, allowing to achieve satisfactory Pay-Back Periods.

Feasibility evaluation of two solar cooling systems applied to a cuban hotel. Comparative analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Díaz Torres, Yamile; Valdivia Nodal, Yarelis; Monteagudo Yanes, José Pedro; Miranda Torres, Yudit

2016-01-01

The article presents an analysis of technical and economic feasibility of using two configurations of solar cooling in a Cuban hotel. HVAC hybrid schemes are: a cooler of ice water vapor compression (chiller) interconnected in parallel with a smaller capacity chiller, first with a solar-powered absorption cooling system (SACS), and then with a photovoltaic cooling system(PSC). Both were simulated taking into account the weather conditions in the region, thermodynamic calculation methodologies and principles that govern these technologies. The results show that the use of these alternatives contributes to reducing energy consumption and the environmental impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC). Economic analysis highlights that PCS is more favorable than the SACS taking into account the cooling cost generation (CCG) but energy assessment indicates that SACS has higher thermal performance for the case study to which it is applied. (author)

Solar heating and cooling of buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Bourke, R. D.; Davis, E. S.

1975-01-01

Solar energy has been used for space heating and water heating for many years. A less common application, although technically feasible, is solar cooling. This paper describes the techniques employed in the heating and cooling of buildings, and in water heating. The potential for solar energy to displace conventional energy sources is discussed. Water heating for new apartments appears to have some features which could make it a place to begin the resurgence of solar energy applications in the United States. A project to investigate apartment solar water heating, currently in the pilot plant construction phase, is described.

Solar heating, cooling and domestic hot water system installed at Columbia Gas System Service Corporation, Columbus, Ohio

Science.gov (United States)

1980-01-01

The solar energy system installed in the building has 2,978 sq ft of single axis tracking, concentrating collectors and provides solar energy for space heating, space cooling and domestic hot water. A 1,200,000 Btu/hour water tube gas boiler provides hot water for space heating. Space cooling is provided by a 100 ton hot water fired absorption chiller. Domestic hot water heating is provided by a 50 gallon natural gas domestic storage water heater. Extracts from the site files, specification references, drawings, installation, operation and maintenance instructions are included.

A Solar Heating and Cooling System in a Nearly Zero-Energy Building: A Case Study in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhifeng Sun

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The building sector accounts for more than 40% of the global energy consumption. This consumption may be lowered by reducing building energy requirements and using renewable energy in building energy supply systems. Therefore, a nearly zero-energy building, incorporating a solar heating and cooling system, was designed and built in Beijing, China. The system included a 35.17 kW cooling (10-RT absorption chiller, an evacuated tube solar collector with an aperture area of 320.6 m2, two hot-water storage tanks (with capacities of 10 m3 and 30 m3, respectively, two cold-water storage tanks (both with a capacity of 10 m3, and a 281 kW cooling tower. Heat pump systems were used as a backup. At a value of 25.2%, the obtained solar fraction associated with the cooling load was close to the design target of 30%. In addition, the daily solar collector efficiency and the chiller coefficient of performance (COP varied from 0.327 to 0.507 and 0.49 to 0.70, respectively.

Experimental analysis and dynamic simulation of a novel high-temperature solar cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buonomano, Annamaria; Calise, Francesco; D’Accadia, Massimo Dentice; Ferruzzi, Gabriele; Frascogna, Sabrina; Palombo, Adolfo; Russo, Roberto; Scarpellino, Marco

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The paper presents an innovative high temperature solar cooling system. • The system is based on novel flat-plate evacuated solar thermal collectors. • Results of an experimental campaign in Saudi Arabia are reported. • A dynamic simulation model and a detailed economic analyses are developed. • Results show that the collector and the system as a whole exhibit excellent performance. - Abstract: This paper presents experimental and numerical analyses of a novel high-temperature solar cooling system based on innovative flat-plate evacuated solar thermal collectors (SC). This is the first solar cooling system, including a double-effect absorption chiller, which is based on non-concentrating solar thermal collectors. The aim of the paper is prove the technical and economic feasibility of the system, also presenting a comparison with a conventional technology, based on concentrating solar thermal collectors. To this scope, an experimental setup has been installed in Saudi Arabia. Here, several measurement devices are installed in order to monitor and control all the thermodynamic parameters of the system. The paper presents some of the main results of this experimental campaign, showing temperatures, powers, energies and efficiencies for a selected period. Experimental results showed that collector peak efficiency is higher than 60%, whereas daily average efficiency is around 40%. This prototypal solar cooling system has been numerically analysed, developing a dynamic simulation model aiming at predicting system performance. For a representative operating period, numerical data were compared with the experimental one, showing an excellent accuracy of the model. A similar system, equipped with Parabolic Trough solar thermal collectors (PTC) was also simulated in order to compare the novel solar collectors with such reference technology. For both systems a detailed thermo-economic model has been implemented in order to perform such comparison also

Comparative study of solar cooling systems with building-integrated solar collectors for use in sub-tropical regions like Hong Kong

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fong, K.F.; Lee, C.K.; Chow, T.T.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Performance of building-integrated solar collectors analyzed. ► Comparisons made with solar collectors installed on roof. ► Use of building-integrated solar collectors increased the total primary consumption. ► Reduction in the building load could not compensate drop in solar collector output. ► Building-integrated solar collectors only used when roof space insufficient. -- Abstract: The performance of solar cooling systems with building-integrated (BI) solar collectors was simulated and the results compared with those having the solar collectors installed conventionally on the roof based on the weather data in Hong Kong. Two types of solar collectors and the corresponding cooling systems, namely the flat-plate collectors for absorption refrigeration and the PV panels for DC-driven vapour compression refrigeration, were used in the analysis. It was found that in both cases, the adoption of BI solar collectors resulted in a lower solar fraction (SF) and consequently a higher primary energy consumption even though the zone loads were reduced. The reduction in SF was more pronounced in the peak load season when the solar radiation was nearly parallel to the solar collector surfaces during the daytimes, especially for those facing the south direction. Indeed, there were no outputs from the BI flat-plate collectors facing the south direction between May and July. The more severe deterioration in the system performance with the BI flat-plate type collectors made them technically infeasible in terms of the energy-saving potential. It was concluded that the use of BI solar collectors in solar cooling systems should be restricted only to situations where the availability of the roof was limited or insufficient when applied in sub-tropical regions like Hong Kong.

An Accurate Method for Computing the Absorption of Solar Radiation by Water Vapor

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, M. D.

1980-01-01

The method is based upon molecular line parameters and makes use of a far wing scaling approximation and k distribution approach previously applied to the computation of the infrared cooling rate due to water vapor. Taking into account the wave number dependence of the incident solar flux, the solar heating rate is computed for the entire water vapor spectrum and for individual absorption bands. The accuracy of the method is tested against line by line calculations. The method introduces a maximum error of 0.06 C/day. The method has the additional advantage over previous methods in that it can be applied to any portion of the spectral region containing the water vapor bands. The integrated absorptances and line intensities computed from the molecular line parameters were compared with laboratory measurements. The comparison reveals that, among the three different sources, absorptance is the largest for the laboratory measurements.

A systematic parametric study and feasibility assessment of solar-assisted single-effect, double-effect, and triple-effect absorption chillers for heating and cooling applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirazi, Ali; Taylor, Robert A.; White, Stephen D.; Morrison, Graham L.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • TRNSYS simulations of SHC single/multi-effect absorption chillers were conducted. • A detailed parametric study was conducted to find the optimal size of the tank. • The effect of tank heat loss on the performance of the configurations was analyzed. • The effect of beam and diffuse radiation on the solar field size was investigated. • Energy performance and economics of each plant were analyzed in various climates. - Abstract: The present work investigates the feasibility of solar heating and cooling (SHC) absorption systems based on combining three types of LiBr–H_2O absorption chillers (single-, double-, and triple-effect) with common solar thermal collectors available on the market. A single-effect chiller is coupled with evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) – SHC1. A double-effect chiller is integrated with parabolic trough collectors (PTCs), linear Fresnel micro-concentrating collectors (MCTs) and evacuated flat plate collectors (EFPCs) respectively – SHC2, SHC3, and SHC4. PTCs are employed to provide high-temperature heat to a triple-effect absorption chiller (SHC5). Although triple-effect chillers have been around for a while, this paper represents the first system-level analysis of these chillers coupled with high-temperature solar concentrating collectors for air-conditioning applications. A simulation model for each configuration is developed in a transient system simulation environment (TRNSYS 17). Furthermore, a unique, comprehensive perspective is given by investigating the impact of characteristic solar beam radiation to global radiation ratios on the techno-economic performance of the proposed SHC plants for a wide variety of climatic regions worldwide. The results of parametric study suggest that a storage volume of around 70 L/m"2 is a good choice for SHC1, while 40–50 L/m"2 storage capacity is sufficient for the other configurations (SHC2 to SHC5). The simulation results reveal that when the fraction of direct normal

Cooled solar PV panels for output energy efficiency optimisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Zhijun; Herfatmanesh, Mohammad R.; Liu, Yiming

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Effects of cooling on solar PV performance have been experimentally investigated. • As a solar panel is cooled down, the electric output can have significant increase. • A cooled solar PV system has been proposed for resident application. • Life cycle assessment suggests the cost payback time of cooled PV can be reduced. - Abstract: As working temperature plays a critical role in influencing solar PV’s electrical output and efficacy, it is necessary to examine possible way for maintaining the appropriate temperature for solar panels. This research is aiming to investigate practical effects of solar PV surface temperature on output performance, in particular efficiency. Experimental works were carried out under different radiation condition for exploring the variation of the output voltage, current, output power and efficiency. After that, the cooling test was conducted to find how much efficiency improvement can be achieved with the cooling condition. As test results show the efficiency of solar PV can have an increasing rate of 47% with the cooled condition, a cooling system is proposed for possible system setup of residential solar PV application. The system performance and life cycle assessment suggest that the annual PV electric output efficiencies can increase up to 35%, and the annual total system energy efficiency including electric output and hot water energy output can increase up to 107%. The cost payback time can be reduced to 12.1 years, compared to 15 years of the baseline of a similar system without cooling sub-system.

Solar absorption surface panel

Science.gov (United States)

Santala, Teuvo J.

1978-01-01

A composite metal of aluminum and nickel is used to form an economical solar absorption surface for a collector plate wherein an intermetallic compound of the aluminum and nickel provides a surface morphology with high absorptance and relatively low infrared emittance along with good durability.

Experiments on novel solar heating and cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yiping; Cui Yong; Zhu Li; Han Lijun

2008-01-01

Solar heating and nocturnal radiant cooling techniques are united to produce a novel solar heating and cooling system. The radiant panel with both heating and cooling functions can be used as structural materials for the building envelope, which realizes true building integrated utilization of solar energy. Based on the natural circulation principle, the operation status can be changed automatically between the heating cycle and the cooling cycle. System performances under different climate conditions using different covers on the radiant panel are studied. The results show that the novel solar heating and cooling system has good performance of heating and cooling. For the no cover system, the daily average heat collecting efficiency is 52% with the maximum efficiency of 73%, while at night, the cooling capacity is about 47 W/m 2 on a sunny day. On a cloudy day, the daily average heat collecting efficiency is 47% with the maximum of 84%, while the cooling capacity is about 33 W/m 2 . As a polycarbonate (PC) panel or polyethylene film are used as covers, the maximum heat collecting efficiencies are 75% and 72% and the daily average heat collecting efficiencies are 61% and 58%, while the cooling capacities are 50 W/m 2 and 36 W/m 2 , respectively

Solar heating, cooling, and domestic hot water system installed at Kaw Valley State Bank and Trust Company, Topeka, Kansas

Science.gov (United States)

1980-01-01

The building has approximately 5600 square feet of conditioned space. Solar energy was used for space heating, space cooling, and preheating domestic hot water (DHW). The solar energy system had an array of evacuated tube-type collectors with an area of 1068 square feet. A 50/50 solution of ethylene glycol and water was the transfer medium that delivered solar energy to a tube-in-shell heat exchanger that in turn delivered solar heated water to a 1100 gallon pressurized hot water storage tank. When solar energy was insufficient to satisfy the space heating and/or cooling demand, a natural gas-fired boiler provided auxiliary energy to the fan coil loops and/or the absorption chillers. Extracts from the site files, specification references, drawings, and installation, operation and maintenance instructions are presented.

Two-phase flow modelling of a solar concentrator applied as ammonia vapor generator in an absorption refrigerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ortega, N. [Posgrado en Ingenieria (Energia), Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Privada Xochicalco s/n, Temixco, Morelos 62580 (Mexico); Garcia-Valladares, O.; Best, R.; Gomez, V.H. [Centro de Investigacion en Energia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Privada Xochicalco s/n, Temixco, Morelos 62580 (Mexico)

2008-09-15

A detailed one-dimensional numerical model describing the heat and fluid-dynamic behavior inside a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) used as an ammonia vapor generator has been developed. The governing equations (continuity, momentum, and energy) inside the CPC absorber tube, together with the energy equation in the tube wall and the thermal analysis in the solar concentrator were solved. The computational method developed is useful for the solar vapor generator design applied to absorption cooling systems. The effect on the outlet temperature and vapor quality of a range of CPC design parameters was analyzed. These parameters were the acceptance half-angle and CPC length, the diameter and coating of the absorber tube, and the manufacture materials of the cover, the reflector, and the absorber tube. It was found that the most important design parameters in order to obtain a higher ammonia-water vapor production are, in order of priority: the reflector material, the absorber tube diameter, the selective surface, and the acceptance half-angle. The direct ammonia-water vapor generation resulting from a 35 m long CPC was coupled to an absorption refrigeration system model in order to determine the solar fraction, cooling capacity, coefficient of performance, and overall efficiency during a typical day of operation. The results show that approximately 3.8 kW of cooling at -10{sup o}C could be produced with solar and overall efficiencies up to 46.3% and 21.2%, respectively. (author)

Experimental Study on Solar Cooling Tube Using Thermal/Vacuum Emptying Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huizhong Zhao

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A solar cooling tube using thermal/vacuum emptying method was experimentally studied in this paper. The coefficient of performance (COP of the solar cooling tube was mostly affected by the vacuum degree of the system. In past research, the thermal vacuum method, using an electric oven and iodine-tungsten lamp to heat up the adsorbent bed and H2O vapor to expel the air from the solar cooling tube, was used to manufacture solar cooling tubes. This paper presents a novel thermal vacuum combined with vacuum pump method allowing an increased vacuum state for producing solar cooling tubes. The following conclusions are reached: the adsorbent bed temperature of solar cooling tube could reaches up to 233°C, and this temperature is sufficient to meet desorption demand; the refrigerator power of a single solar cooling tube varies from 1 W to 12 W; the total supply refrigerating capacity is about 287 kJ; and the COP of this solar cooling tube is about 0.215.

Performance Evaluation of a Nanofluid-Based Direct Absorption Solar Collector with Parabolic Trough Concentrator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guoying Xu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Application of solar collectors for hot water supply, space heating, and cooling plays a significant role in reducing building energy consumption. For conventional solar collectors, solar radiation is absorbed by spectral selective coating on the collectors’ tube/plate wall. The poor durability of the coating can lead to an increased manufacturing cost and unreliability for a solar collector operated at a higher temperature. Therefore, a novel nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector (NDASC employing uncoated collector tubes has been proposed, and its operating characteristics for medium-temperature solar collection were theoretically and experimentally studied in this paper. CuO/oil nanofluid was prepared and used as working fluid of the NDASC. The heat-transfer mechanism of the NDASC with parabolic trough concentrator was theoretically evaluated and compared with a conventional indirect absorption solar collector (IASC. The theoretical analysis results suggested that the fluid’s temperature distribution in the NDASC was much more uniform than that in the IASC, and an enhanced collection efficiency could be achieved for the NDASC operated within a preferred working temperature range. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed NDASC, experimental performances of an NDASC and an IASC with the same parabolic trough concentrator were furthermore evaluated and comparatively discussed.

Performance Evaluation of a Nanofluid-Based Direct Absorption Solar Collector with Parabolic Trough Concentrator

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Guoying; Chen, Wei; Deng, Shiming; Zhang, Xiaosong; Zhao, Sainan

2015-01-01

Application of solar collectors for hot water supply, space heating, and cooling plays a significant role in reducing building energy consumption. For conventional solar collectors, solar radiation is absorbed by spectral selective coating on the collectors’ tube/plate wall. The poor durability of the coating can lead to an increased manufacturing cost and unreliability for a solar collector operated at a higher temperature. Therefore, a novel nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector (NDASC) employing uncoated collector tubes has been proposed, and its operating characteristics for medium-temperature solar collection were theoretically and experimentally studied in this paper. CuO/oil nanofluid was prepared and used as working fluid of the NDASC. The heat-transfer mechanism of the NDASC with parabolic trough concentrator was theoretically evaluated and compared with a conventional indirect absorption solar collector (IASC). The theoretical analysis results suggested that the fluid’s temperature distribution in the NDASC was much more uniform than that in the IASC, and an enhanced collection efficiency could be achieved for the NDASC operated within a preferred working temperature range. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed NDASC, experimental performances of an NDASC and an IASC with the same parabolic trough concentrator were furthermore evaluated and comparatively discussed. PMID:28347112

Sistema de refrigeración solar por absorción para la comunidad de Kumay en Ecuador; Solar absorption refrigeration system for Kumay community in Ecuador

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Antonio Romero Paguay

2015-04-01

Full Text Available En el Ecuador existen muchas zonas aisladas, no electrificadas aún, especialmente en la provincia de Pastaza, en este artículo se presenta un sistema de refrigeración por absorción solar  como una alternativa para la climatización de un consultorio médico en la Comunidad de Kumay. Se realiza el cálculo de la estimación de carga térmica en el consultorio médico empleando el software Carrier E20, el cual arroja una necesidad de enfriamiento de 10 kW o 2,84 toneladas de refrigeración (TR. El sistema de refrigeración por absorción con energía solar propuesto está formado por una máquina de absorción, simple efecto de la marca ClimateWell 10, con 10 kW de potencia de enfriamiento que utiliza como absorbente el par cloruro de litio y agua, requiriéndose un área de captación de energía solar de 30 m2 que será entregada con diez colectores de tubos alvacío marca Thermomax, Modelo Solamax 30. In Ecuador there are many non-electrified remote areas, especially in the province of Pastaza, in this article a solar absorption cooling system is presented as an alternative for the air conditioning of a doctor's office (medical clinic in Community Kumay. The calculation of the estimated thermal load on the doctor's office is done using the software Carrier E20, which throws a necessity of cooling of 10 kW or 2,84 tons of refrigeration. The solar cooling system consist in an absorption machine of single effect, ClimateWell 10, with 10 kW of cooling power that uses as absorbent the lithium chloride and water pair, this system  required an area of reception of solar energy of 30 m2 that will be given with 10 vacuum tube collectors Thermomax, Model Solamax 30.

Economical and environmental assessment of an optimized solar cooling system for a medium-sized benchmark office building in Los Angeles, California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hang, Yin; Qu, Ming [School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, CIVL G243, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States); Zhao, Fu [School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University (United States)

2011-02-15

This paper presents a systematic energetic, economical, and environmental assessment on a solar cooling system for a medium-sized office building in Los Angeles, California by means of system modeling. The studied solar cooling system primarily consists of evacuated tube solar collectors, a hot water storage tank, a single-effect LiBr-H{sub 2}O absorption chiller, and a gas-fired auxiliary heater. System performance optimization and sensitivity analysis were conducted by varying two major parameters (i.e. storage tank volume and collector area). The results suggest that a trade-off exists between economic performance indicated by the equivalent uniform annual cost (EUAC) and the energetic/environmental performance indicated by the solar fraction and CO{sub 2} reduction percentage, respectively. The cost of carbon footprint reduction was defined and served as an indicator for the overall system performance. Based on this indicator, the optimal system design could be found for a solar cooling system. The approach adapted in this study can be applied to other buildings located in different climate zones to reveal the cost and benefits of solar cooling technologies and facilitate decision-making. (author)

Design of absorption system water-ammonia by using solar radiation as thermal source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cavalcanti, Eduardo J. Cidade; Souza, Luiz Guilherme Meira [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil). Centro de Tecnlogia. Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica], E-mails: educanti@gmail.com, lguilherme@dem.ufrn.br

2010-07-01

An absorption refrigeration system with the single effect of par ammonia water with 1.758 kW (1 / 2 RT) cooling capacity was designed. The system was operating under conditions of 5 degree C evaporation and 45 degree C condensation temperature. The absorption system has a heat exchanger to improve performance. The heat source is the cylinder parabolic solar concentrator (CPC). The design of the concentrator was estimated based on experimental data of the pilot plant built in the Solar Energy Laboratory, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The thermodynamic model with heat and mass transfer was made to the project areas of heat exchange (absorber) and consequent construction of the system. The rectifying column was modeling assuming that liquid is in equilibrium with the vapor state in all plate. The results should show the dimensions of the compact and allows a future assessment of the operational cost. (author)

Solar heating, cooling, and domestic hot water system installed at Kaw Valley State Bank and Trust Company, Topeka, Kansas. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-11-01

The building has approximately 5600 square feet of conditioned space. Solar energy is used for space heating, space cooling, and preheating domestic hot water (DHW). The solar energy system has an array of evacuated tube-type collectors with an area of 1068 square feet. A 50/50 solution of ethylene glycol and water is the transfer medium that delivers solar energy to a tube-in-shell heat exchanger that in turn delivers solar-heated water to a 1100 gallon pressurized hot water storage tank. When solar energy is insufficient to satisfy the space heating and/or cooling demand, a natural gas-fired boiler provides auxiliary energy to the fan coil loops and/or the absorption chillers. Extracts from the site files, specification references, drawings, and installation, operation and maintenance instructions are included.

Experimental investigation of a solar adsorption chiller used for grain depot cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, H.L.; Dai, Y.J.; Wang, R.Z.; Wu, J.Y.; Xu, Y.X.; Shen, J.M.

2006-01-01

The solar cooling technology is attractive since cooling load of building is roughly in phase with solar energy availability. In this study, a solar adsorption chiller was built and tested with aim of developing an alternative refrigeration system used for grain cooling storage. This solar adsorption chiller consists of four subsystems, namely, a solar water heating unit with 49.4 m 2 solar collecting area, a silica gel-water adsorption chiller, a cooling tower and a fan coil unit. In order to achieve continuous refrigeration, two adsorption units are operated out-of-phase with mass recovery cycle in the adsorption chiller. Field test results show that, under the climatic conditions of daily solar radiation being about 16-21 MJ/m 2 , this solar adsorption chiller can furnish 14-22 deg. C chilled air with an average cooling output ranging from about 3.2-4.4 kW, its daily solar cooling COP (coefficient of performance) is about 0.1-0.13

Solar heating and cooling demonstration project at the Florida Solar Energy Center

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hankins, J.D.

1980-02-01

The retrofitted solar heating and cooling system installed at the Florida Solar Energy Center is described. Information is provided on the system's test, operation, controls, hardware and installation, including detailed drawings. The Center's office building, approximately 5000 square feet of space, with solar air conditioning and heating as a demonstration of the technical feasibility is located just north of Port Canaveral, Florida. The system was designed to supply approximately 70% of the annual cooling and 100% of the heating load. The project provides unique high-temperature, non-imaging, non-tracking, evacuated-tube collectors. The design of the system was kept simple and employs five hydronic loops. They are energy collection, chilled water production, space cooling, space heating and energy rejection.

Solar thermal heating and cooling. A bibliography with abstracts

Science.gov (United States)

Arenson, M.

1979-01-01

This bibliographic series cites and abstracts the literature and technical papers on the heating and cooling of buildings with solar thermal energy. Over 650 citations are arranged in the following categories: space heating and cooling systems; space heating and cooling models; building energy conservation; architectural considerations, thermal load computations; thermal load measurements, domestic hot water, solar and atmospheric radiation, swimming pools; and economics.

Solar heating and cooling demonstration project at the Florida solar energy center

Science.gov (United States)

1980-01-01

The retrofitted solar heating and cooling system installed at the Florida Solar Energy Center is described. The system was designed to supply approximately 70 percent of the annual cooling and 100 percent of the heating load. The project provides unique high temperature, nonimaging, nontracking, evacuated tube collectors. The design of the system was kept simple and employs five hydronic loops. They are energy collection, chilled water production, space cooling, space heating and energy rejection. Information is provided on the system's acceptance test results operation, controls, hardware and installation, including detailed drawings.

Review on absorption technology with emphasis on small capacity absorption machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Labus Jerko M.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to review the past achievements in the field of absorption systems, their potential and possible directions for future development. Various types of absorption systems and research on working fluids are discussed in detail. Among various applications, solar cooling and combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP are identified as two most promising applications for further development of absorption machines. Under the same framework, special attention is given to the small capacity absorption machines and their current status at the market. Although this technology looks promising, it is still in development and many issues are open. With respect to that fact, this paper covers all the relevant aspects for further development of small capacity absorption machines.

Solar district heating and cooling: A review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Perez-Mora, Nicolas; Bava, Federico; Andersen, Martin

2018-01-01

and decentralized solar district heating as well as block heating. For the different technologies, the paper describes commonly adopted control strategies, system configurations, types of installation, and integration. Real‐world examples are also given to provide a more detailed insight into how solar thermal...... technology can be integrated with district heating. Solar thermal technology combined with thermally driven chillers to provide cooling for cooling networks is also included in this paper. In order for a technology to spread successfully, not only technical but also economic issues need to be tackled. Hence......Both district heating and solar collector systems have been known and implemented for many years. However, the combination of the two, with solar collectors supplying heat to the district heating network, is relatively new, and no comprehensive review of scientific publications on this topic could...

Solar thermally driven cooling systems: Some investigation results and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ajib, Salman; Günther, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Two types of solar thermally driven absorption refrigeration machines (ARMs) have been investigated. ► We investigated the influence of the operating conditions on the effectiveness of the ARMs. ► The influence of the flow rate of the work solution on the effectiveness of the ARMs has been tested. ► Two laboratory test plants have been built and tested under different operating conditions. - Abstract: A big increase in the number of solar thermal cooling installations and research efforts could be seen over the last years worldwide. Especially the producers of solar thermal collectors and systems have been looking for thermal chillers in the small capacity range to provide air conditioning for one or two family houses. Furthermore, many developments aim to increase the efficiency of the system and to decrease the specific costs of the produced refrigeration capacity. The growth in the use of solar thermal cooling systems amounted about 860% from 52 units in 2004 to 450 units in 2009 [1]. This tendency is expected to be continuously in the next years. The practical examinations on solar thermally driven absorption machines with refrigeration capacity of 15, 10 and 5 kW have shown that this technology has a good chance to be standardized and to replace partly the conventional one. These systems can save more primary energy at high fraction of solar thermally driving by suitable control and regulation of the system. The investing costs still higher as the conventional one, however, the operating costs are less than the conventional one. The Coefficient of Performance (COP) depends on the kind of the system, work temperatures and conditions as well as the refrigeration capacity of the systems. It lies between 0.4 and 1.2. In the framework of the research on this field, we built, tested and measured two prototypes. After measuring the first prototype, the chillers were redesigned to reduce internal heat losses and make the heat and mass transfer

Design of SMART waste heat removal dry cooling tower using solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Yong Jae; Jeong, Yong Hoon

2014-01-01

The 85% of cooling system are once-through cooling system and closed cycle wet cooling system. However, many countries are trying to reduce the power plant water requirement due to the water shortage and water pollution. Dry cooling system is investigated for water saving advantage. There are two dry cooling system which are direct and indirect cooling system. In direct type, turbine exhaust is directly cooled by air-cooled condenser. In indirect system, turbine steam is cooled by recirculating intermediate cooling water loop, then the loop is cooled by air-cooled heat exchanger in cooling tower. In this paper, the purpose is to remove SMART waste heat, 200MW by using newly designed tower. The possibility of enhancing cooling performance by solar energy is analyzed. The simple cooling tower and solar energy cooling tower are presented and two design should meet the purpose of removing SMART waste heat, 200MW. In first design, when tower diameter is 70m, the height of tower should be 360m high. In second design, the chimney height decrease from 360m to 180m as collector radius increase from 100m to 500m due to collector temperature enhancement by solar energy, To analyze solar cooling tower further, consideration of solar energy performance at night should be analyzed

Design of SMART waste heat removal dry cooling tower using solar energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Yong Jae; Jeong, Yong Hoon [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

The 85% of cooling system are once-through cooling system and closed cycle wet cooling system. However, many countries are trying to reduce the power plant water requirement due to the water shortage and water pollution. Dry cooling system is investigated for water saving advantage. There are two dry cooling system which are direct and indirect cooling system. In direct type, turbine exhaust is directly cooled by air-cooled condenser. In indirect system, turbine steam is cooled by recirculating intermediate cooling water loop, then the loop is cooled by air-cooled heat exchanger in cooling tower. In this paper, the purpose is to remove SMART waste heat, 200MW by using newly designed tower. The possibility of enhancing cooling performance by solar energy is analyzed. The simple cooling tower and solar energy cooling tower are presented and two design should meet the purpose of removing SMART waste heat, 200MW. In first design, when tower diameter is 70m, the height of tower should be 360m high. In second design, the chimney height decrease from 360m to 180m as collector radius increase from 100m to 500m due to collector temperature enhancement by solar energy, To analyze solar cooling tower further, consideration of solar energy performance at night should be analyzed.

System performance and economic analysis of solar-assisted cooling/heating system

KAUST Repository

Huang, B.J.

2011-11-01

The long-term system simulation and economic analysis of solar-assisted cooling/heating system (SACH-2) was carried out in order to find an economical design. The solar heat driven ejector cooling system (ECS) is used to provide part of the cooling load to reduce the energy consumption of the air conditioner installed as the base-load cooler. A standard SACH-2 system for cooling load 3.5. kW (1. RT) and daily cooling time 10 h is used for case study. The cooling performance is assumed only in summer seasons from May to October. In winter season from November to April, only heat is supplied. Two installation locations (Taipei and Tainan) were examined.It was found from the cooling performance simulation that in order to save 50% energy of the air conditioner, the required solar collector area is 40m2 in Taipei and 31m2 in Tainan, for COPj=0.2. If the solar collector area is designed as 20m2, the solar ejector cooling system will supply about 17-26% cooling load in Taipei in summer season and about 21-27% cooling load in Tainan. Simulation for long-term performance including cooling in summer (May-October) and hot water supply in winter (November-April) was carried out to determine the monthly-average energy savings. The corresponding daily hot water supply (with 40°C temperature rise of water) for 20m2 solar collector area is 616-858L/day in Tainan and 304-533L/day in Taipei.The economic analysis shows that the payback time of SACH-2 decreases with increasing cooling capacity. The payback time is 4.8. years in Tainan and 6.2. years in Taipei when the cooling capacity >10. RT. If the ECS is treated as an additional device used as a protective equipment to avoid overheating of solar collectors and to convert the excess solar heat in summer into cooling to reduce the energy consumption of air conditioner, the payback time is less than 3 years for cooling capacity larger than 3. RT. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Thermodynamic performance analysis and optimization of a solar-assisted combined cooling, heating and power system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Jiangjiang; Lu, Yanchao; Yang, Ying; Mao, Tianzhi

2016-01-01

This study aims to present a thermodynamic performance analysis and to optimize the configurations of a hybrid combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) system incorporating solar energy and natural gas. A basic natural gas CCHP system containing a power generation unit, a heat recovery system, an absorption cooling system and a storage tank is integrated with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and/or a heat collector. Based on thermodynamic modeling, the thermodynamic performance, including energy and exergy efficiencies, under variable work conditions, such as electric load factor, solar irradiance and installation ratio, of the solar PV panels and heat collector is investigated and analyzed. The results of the energy supply side analysis indicate that the integration of solar PV into the CCHP system more efficiently improves the exergy efficiency, whereas the integration of a solar heat collector improves the energy efficiency. To match the building loads, the optimization method combined with the operation strategy is employed to optimize the system configurations to maximize the integrated benefits of energy and economic costs. The optimization results of demand–supply matching demonstrate that the integration of a solar heat collector achieves a better integrated performance than the solar PV integration in the specific case study. - Highlights: • Design a CCHP system integrated with solar PV and heat collector. • Present the energy and exergy analyses under variable work conditions. • Propose an optimization method of CCHP system for demand-supply matching.

Citywide Impacts of Cool Roof and Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Deployment on Near-Surface Air Temperature and Cooling Energy Demand

Science.gov (United States)

Salamanca, F.; Georgescu, M.; Mahalov, A.; Moustaoui, M.; Martilli, A.

2016-10-01

Assessment of mitigation strategies that combat global warming, urban heat islands (UHIs), and urban energy demand can be crucial for urban planners and energy providers, especially for hot, semi-arid urban environments where summertime cooling demands are excessive. Within this context, summertime regional impacts of cool roof and rooftop solar photovoltaic deployment on near-surface air temperature and cooling energy demand are examined for the two major USA cities of Arizona: Phoenix and Tucson. A detailed physics-based parametrization of solar photovoltaic panels is developed and implemented in a multilayer building energy model that is fully coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting mesoscale numerical model. We conduct a suite of sensitivity experiments (with different coverage rates of cool roof and rooftop solar photovoltaic deployment) for a 10-day clear-sky extreme heat period over the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas at high spatial resolution (1-km horizontal grid spacing). Results show that deployment of cool roofs and rooftop solar photovoltaic panels reduce near-surface air temperature across the diurnal cycle and decrease daily citywide cooling energy demand. During the day, cool roofs are more effective at cooling than rooftop solar photovoltaic systems, but during the night, solar panels are more efficient at reducing the UHI effect. For the maximum coverage rate deployment, cool roofs reduced daily citywide cooling energy demand by 13-14 %, while rooftop solar photovoltaic panels by 8-11 % (without considering the additional savings derived from their electricity production). The results presented here demonstrate that deployment of both roofing technologies have multiple benefits for the urban environment, while solar photovoltaic panels add additional value because they reduce the dependence on fossil fuel consumption for electricity generation.

Potential Evaluation of Solar Heat Assisted Desiccant Hybrid Air Conditioning System

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Thien Nha; Hamamoto, Yoshinori; Akisawa, Atsushi; Kashiwagi, Takao

The solar thermal driven desiccant dehumidification-absorption cooling hybrid system has superior advantage in hot-humid climate regions. The reasonable air processing of desiccant hybrid air conditioning system and the utility of clean and free energy make the system environment friendly and energy efficient. The study investigates the performance of the desiccant dehumidification air conditioning systems with solar thermal assistant. The investigation is performed for three cases which are combinations of solar thermal and absorption cooling systems with different heat supply temperature levels. Two solar thermal systems are used in the study: the flat plate collector (FPC) and the vacuum tube with compound parabolic concentrator (CPC). The single-effect and high energy efficient double-, triple-effect LiBr-water absorption cooling cycles are considered for cooling systems. COP of desiccant hybrid air conditioning systems are determined. The evaluation of these systems is subsequently performed. The single effect absorption cooling cycle combined with the flat plate collector solar system is found to be the most energy efficient air conditioning system.

Performance evaluation of combined ejector LiBr/H2O absorption cooling cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasan Sh. Majdi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work is to develop a computer simulation program to evaluate the performance of solar-assited combined ejector absorption (single-effect cooling system using LiBr/H2O as a working fluid and operating under steady-state conditions. The ejector possess no moving parts and is simple and reliable, which makes it attractive for combination with single-stage absorption cycle for further improvement to the system's performance. In this research, improvement to the system is achieved by utilizing the potential kinetic energy of the ejector to enhance refrigeration efficiency. The effects of the entrainment ratio of the ejector, operating temperature, on the thermal loads, and system performance have been investigated. The results showed that the evaporator and condenser loads, post-addition of the ejector, is found to be permanently higher than that in the basic cycle, which indicates a significant enhancement of the proposed cycle and the cooling capacity of the system increasing with the increase in evaporator temperature and entrainment ratio. The COP of the modified cycle is improved by up to 60 % compared with that of the basic cycle at the given condition. This process stabilizes the refrigeration system, enhanced its function, and enabled the system to work under higher condenser temperatures.

Maximization of primary energy savings of solar heating and cooling systems by transient simulations and computer design of experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calise, F.; Palombo, A.; Vanoli, L.

2010-01-01

In this paper, the simulation of the performance of solar-assisted heating and cooling systems is analyzed. Three different plant layouts are considered: (i) the first one consists of evacuated solar collectors and a single-stage LiBr-H 2 O absorption chiller; here in order to integrate the system in case of insufficient solar radiation, an electric water-cooled chiller is activated; (ii) configuration of the secondly considered system is similar to the first one, but the absorption chiller and the solar collector area are sized for balancing about 30% of the building cooling load only; (iii) the layout of the thirdly considered system differs from the first one since the auxiliary electric chiller is replaced by a gas-fired heater. Such system configurations also include: circulation pumps, storage tanks, feedback controllers, mixers, diverters and on/off hysteresis controllers. All such devices are modelled for maximizing the system energy efficiency. In order to simulate the systems' performance for dynamic heating/cooling loads, a single-lumped capacitance building is also modelled and implemented in the computer code. A cost model is also developed in order to calculate the systems' operating and capital costs. All the models and the relative simulations are carried out by TRNSYS. A design of experiment procedure is also included. By such tool the effects of the system operating parameters' variation on the relative energy efficiency are analyzed. In addition, the set of synthesis/design variables maximizing the system's energetic performance can be also identified. The annual primary energy saving is chosen as the optimization objective function, whereas collector slope, pump flows, set-point temperatures and tank volume are selected as optimizing system design variables. A case study was developed for an office building located in South Italy. Here, the energetic and the economic analysis for all the three considered system layouts are carried out. The

Solar heat collector-generator for cooling purposes

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, K.

1982-01-01

The performance of an experimental LiBr-H2O solar collector powered absorption cooling system is described. A numerical model was developed of the energy, mass, and momentum balances across the heat-exchange loop to obtain the refrigerant vapor generation rate. The mechanism works by the thermosiphon principle, which eliminates mechanical devices from the loop. All leaks were fixed before measurements began with a test apparatus comprising a pyrex tube 1.87 m long with a 2.7 i.d. The refrigerant flow rate was monitored, along with temperature changes in the fluid and across the tube. Bubble initiation was observed from the free surface extending downward in the tube. Reynolds numbers varied from 6-43 in the liquid phase and 81-204 in the vapor phase. A formulation was made for the low-velocity two-phase flow and good agreement was demonstrated with the simulation.

Absorptive coating for aluminum solar panels

Science.gov (United States)

Desmet, D.; Jason, A.; Parr, A.

1979-01-01

Method for coating forming coating of copper oxide from copper component of sheet aluminum/copper alloy provides strong durable solar heat collector panels. Copper oxide coating has solar absorption characteristics similar to black chrome and is much simpler and less costly to produce.

Energetic, exergetic and financial evaluation of a solar driven absorption chiller – A dynamic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellos, Evangelos; Tzivanidis, Christos; Symeou, Christoforos; Antonopoulos, Kimon A.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A solar cooling system with ETC and a single effect absorption chiller is analyzed. • The analysis is dynamic and it is made for the city of Athens, Greece. • The analysis is energetic, exergetic and financial for all the summer period. • Firstly the system is optimized exergetically and after it is analyzed financially. • The optimum case is 450 m"2 of solar collectors coupled with a storage tank of 14 m"3. - Abstract: In this study, a solar cooling system of 100 kW is analyzed parametrically in dynamic basis for the city of Athens, Greece. The objective of this study is the design of a sustainable system, using energetic, exergetic and financial criteria. The examined system includes evacuated tube collectors, storage tank and a single stage absorption chiller operating with LiBr-H_2O working pair. Different combinations of collecting areas and storage tank volumes are tested in order to determine the most suitable cases exergetically. These optimum cases are evaluated financially and finally the system with the higher financial indexes is selected as the most suitable. More specifically, the collecting area is analyzed from 150 m"2 to 600 m"2 and the storage tank from 6 m"3 to 16 m"3. Finally, 450 m"2 of evacuated tube collectors with a 14 m"3 storage tank was proved to be the optimum solution financially with 15 years payback period and 67 k€ net present value.

System performance and economic analysis of solar-assisted cooling/heating system

KAUST Repository

Huang, B.J.; Wu, J.H.; Yen, R.H.; Wang, J.H.; Hsu, H.Y.; Hsia, C.J.; Yen, C.W.; Chang, J.M.

2011-01-01

The long-term system simulation and economic analysis of solar-assisted cooling/heating system (SACH-2) was carried out in order to find an economical design. The solar heat driven ejector cooling system (ECS) is used to provide part of the cooling

A mathematical procedure to estimate solar absorptance of shallow water ponds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Hongbo; Tang Runsheng; Li Zhimin; Zhong Hao

2009-01-01

In this article, a mathematical procedure is developed for estimating solar absorption of shallow water ponds with different pond floor based on the fact that the solar radiation trapped inside the water layer undergoes multiplicative reflection and absorption and on that the solar absorption of water is selective. Theoretical model indicates that the solar absorption of a water pond is related to the reflectivity of the pond floor, the solar spectrum and the water depth. To validate the mathematical model, a concrete water pond measuring 3 x 3 x 0.24 m was constructed. Experimental results indicate that solar reflectivity calculated based on the mathematical model proposed in this work were in good agreement with those measured. For water ponds with a water-permeable floor, such as concrete floor, theoretical calculations of the solar absorptance of a water pond should be done based on the reflectivity of full wet floor, whereas for water ponds with a non-water-permeable floor, theoretical calculations should be done based on the fact that solar reflection on the floor is neither perfect specular reflection nor prefect isotropic diffuse reflection. Results of numerical calculation show that theoretical calculations of solar absorption of a water pond by dividing solar spectrum into six bands were pretty agreement with those by dividing solar spectrum into 20 bands.

Dry cooling with night cool storage to enhance solar power plants performance in extreme conditions areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muñoz, J.; Martínez-Val, J.M.; Abbas, R.; Abánades, A.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Solar thermo-electric power plants with thermal storage for condenser cooling. ► Technology to mitigate the negative effect on Rankine cycles of the day-time high temperatures in deserts. ► Electricity production augmentation in demand-peak hours by the use of day-night temperature difference. -- Abstract: Solar thermal power plants are usually installed in locations with high yearly average solar radiation, often deserts. In such conditions, cooling water required for thermodynamic cycles is rarely available. Moreover, when solar radiation is high, ambient temperature is very high as well; this leads to excessive condensation temperature, especially when air-condensers are used, and decreases the plant efficiency. However, temperature variation in deserts is often very high, which drives to relatively low temperatures during the night. This fact can be exploited with the use of a closed cooling system, so that the coolant (water) is chilled during the night and store. Chilled water is then used during peak temperature hours to cool the condenser (dry cooling), thus enhancing power output and efficiency. The present work analyzes the performance improvement achieved by night thermal cool storage, compared to its equivalent air cooled power plant. Dry cooling is proved to be energy-effective for moderately high day–night temperature differences (20 °C), often found in desert locations. The storage volume requirement for different power plant efficiencies has also been studied, resulting on an asymptotic tendency.

Performance test of solar-assisted ejector cooling system

KAUST Repository

Huang, Bin-Juine

2014-03-01

A solar-assisted ejector cooling/heating system (SACH-2k) is built and test result is reported. The solar-driven ejector cooling system (ECS) is connected in series with an inverter-type air conditioner (IAC). Several advanced technologies are developed in SACH-k2, including generator liquid level control in ECS, the ECS evaporator temperature control, and optimal control of fan power in cooling tower of ECS. From the field test results, the generator liquid level control performs quite well and keeps stable performance of ejector. The ECS evaporator temperature control also performs satisfactorily to keep ejector performance normally under low or fluctuating solar radiation. The fan power control system cooling tower performs stably and reduces the power consumption dramatically without affecting the ECS performance. The test results show that the overall system COPo including power consumptions of peripheral increases from 2.94-3.3 (IAC alone) to 4.06-4.5 (SACH-k2), about 33-43%. The highest COPo is 4.5. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.

Optimal control and performance test of solar-assisted cooling system

KAUST Repository

Huang, B.J.

2010-10-01

The solar-assisted cooling system (SACH) was developed in the present study. The ejector cooling system (ECS) is driven by solar heat and connected in parallel with an inverter-type air conditioner (A/C). The cooling load can be supplied by the ECS when solar energy is available and the input power of the A/C can be reduced. In variable weather, the ECS will probably operate at off-design condition of ejector and the cooling capability of the ECS can be lost completely. In order to make the ejector operate at critical or non-critical double-choking condition to obtain a better performance, an electronic expansion valve was installed in the suction line of the ejector to regulate the opening of the expansion valve to control the evaporator temperature. This will make the SACH always produce cooling effect even at lower solar radiation periods while the ejector performs at off-design conditions. The energy saving of A/C is experimentally shown 50-70% due to the cooling performance of ECS. The long-term performance test results show that the daily energy saving is around 30-70% as compared to the energy consumption of A/C alone (without solar-driven ECS). The total energy saving of A/C is 52% over the entire test period. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pricing the urban cooling benefits of solar panel deployment in Sydney, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, S; Goldstein, M; Pitman, A J; Haghdadi, N; MacGill, I

2017-03-06

Cities import energy, which in combination with their typically high solar absorption and low moisture availability generates the urban heat island effect (UHI). The UHI, combined with human-induced warming, makes our densely populated cities particularly vulnerable to climate change. We examine the utility of solar photovoltaic (PV) system deployment on urban rooftops to reduce the UHI, and we price one potential value of this impact. The installation of PV systems over Sydney, Australia reduces summer maximum temperatures by up to 1 °C because the need to import energy is offset by local generation. This offset has a direct environmental benefit, cooling local maximum temperatures, but also a direct economic value in the energy generated. The indirect benefit associated with the temperature changes is between net AUD$230,000 and $3,380,000 depending on the intensity of PV systems deployment. Therefore, even very large PV installations will not offset global warming, but could generate enough energy to negate the need to import energy, and thereby reduce air temperatures. The energy produced, and the benefits of cooling beyond local PV installation sites, would reduce the vulnerability of urban populations and infrastructure to temperature extremes.

Pricing the urban cooling benefits of solar panel deployment in Sydney, Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, S.; Goldstein, M.; Pitman, A. J.; Haghdadi, N.; MacGill, I.

2017-01-01

Cities import energy, which in combination with their typically high solar absorption and low moisture availability generates the urban heat island effect (UHI). The UHI, combined with human-induced warming, makes our densely populated cities particularly vulnerable to climate change. We examine the utility of solar photovoltaic (PV) system deployment on urban rooftops to reduce the UHI, and we price one potential value of this impact. The installation of PV systems over Sydney, Australia reduces summer maximum temperatures by up to 1 °C because the need to import energy is offset by local generation. This offset has a direct environmental benefit, cooling local maximum temperatures, but also a direct economic value in the energy generated. The indirect benefit associated with the temperature changes is between net AUD$230,000 and $3,380,000 depending on the intensity of PV systems deployment. Therefore, even very large PV installations will not offset global warming, but could generate enough energy to negate the need to import energy, and thereby reduce air temperatures. The energy produced, and the benefits of cooling beyond local PV installation sites, would reduce the vulnerability of urban populations and infrastructure to temperature extremes. PMID:28262843

Thermo-economic Optimization of Solar Assisted Heating and Cooling (SAHC System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ghafoor

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The energy demand for cooling is continuously increasing due to growing thermal loads, changing architectural modes of building, and especially due to occupants indoor comfort requirements resulting higher electricity demand notably during peak load hours. This increasing electricity demand is resulting higher primary energy consumption and emission of green house gases (GHG due to electricity generation from fossil fuels. An exciting alternative to reduce the peak electricity consumption is the possible utilization of solar heat to run thermally driven cooling machines instead of vapor compression machines utilizing high amount of electricity. In order to widen the use of solar collectors, they should also be used to contribute for sanitary hot water production and space heating. Pakistan lying on solar belt has a huge potential to utilize solar thermal heat for heating and cooling requirement because cooling is dominant throughout the year and the enormous amount of radiation availability provides an opportunity to use it for solar thermal driven cooling systems. The sensitivity analysis of solar assisted heating and cooling system has been carried out under climatic conditions of Faisalabad (Pakistan and its economic feasibility has been calculated using maximization of NPV. Both storage size and collector area has been optimized using different economic boundary conditions. Results show that optimum area of collector lies between 0.26m2 to 0.36m2 of collector area per m2 of conditioned area for ieff values of 4.5% to 0.5%. The optimum area of collector increases by decreasing effective interest rate resulting higher solar fraction. The NPV was found to be negative for all ieff values which shows that some incentives/subsidies are needed to be provided to make the system cost beneficial. Results also show that solar fraction space heating varies between 87 and 100% during heating season and solar fraction cooling between 55 and 100% during

Performance evaluation on cool roofs for green remodeling

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Yosun; Cho, Dongwoo; Cho, Kyungjoo

2018-06-01

Cool roofs refer that maximize heat emission, and minimize the absorption of solar radiation energy, by applying high solar reflectance paints, or materials to roofs or rooftops. The application of cool roofs to existing buildings does not need to take structural issues into consideration, as rooftop greening, is an alternative that can be applied to existing buildings easily. This study installed a cool roofs on existing buildings, and evaluated the performances, using the results to propose certification standards for green remodeling, considering the cool roof-related standards.

Development of an innovative polygeneration process in hybrid solar-biomass system for combined power, cooling and desalination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahoo, U.; Kumar, R.; Pant, P.C.; Chaudhary, R.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Heat utilization from solar and biomass resources are considered for hybridization. • Modeling of polygeneration process in hybrid solar-biomass power plant is considered. • Thermodynamic evaluation are performed to identify the effect of various parameters. • Primary Energy Saving of polygeneration process is determined. - Abstract: In the polygeneration process simultaneous production of power, vapor absorption refrigeration (VAR) cooling and multi-effect humidification and dehumidification (MEHD) desalination system from different heat sources in hybrid solar-biomass (HSB) system with higher energy efficiency take place. It is one of the solutions to fulfill energy requirements from renewable sources and also helps in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. The VAR cooling system operates using the extracted heat taken from turbine and condenser heat of the VAR cooling system is used in desalination system for production of drinking water as per demand requirement. Though the production of electricity decreases due to extraction of heat from turbine for VAR cooling and desalination, the complete system meets the energy requirements & increases the primary energy savings (PES). The thermodynamic evaluation and optimization of HSB system in polygeneration process for combined power, cooling and desalination is investigated to identify the effects of various operating parameters. Primary energy savings (PES) of polygeneration process in HSB system is achieved to 50.5%. The energy output is increased to 78.12% from this system as compared to simple power plant.

Enhancement of LNG plant propane cycle through waste heat powered absorption cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodgers, P.; Mortazavi, A.; Eveloy, V.; Al-Hashimi, S.; Hwang, Y.; Radermacher, R.

2012-01-01

In liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants utilizing sea water for process cooling, both the efficiency and production capacity of the propane cycle decrease with increasing sea water temperature. To address this issue, several propane cycle enhancement approaches are investigated in this study, which require minimal modification of the existing plant configuration. These approaches rely on the use of gas turbine waste heat powered water/lithium bromide absorption cooling to either (i) subcool propane after the propane cycle condenser, or (ii) reduce propane cycle condensing pressure through pre-cooling of condenser cooling water. In the second approach, two alternative methods of pre-cooling condenser cooling water are considered, which consist of an open sea water loop, and a closed fresh water loop. In addition for all cases, three candidate absorption chiller configurations are evaluated, namely single-effect, double-effect, and cascaded double- and single-effect chillers. The thermodynamic performance of each propane cycle enhancement scheme, integrated in an actual LNG plant in the Persian Gulf, is evaluated using actual plant operating data. Subcooling propane after the propane cycle condenser is found to improve propane cycle total coefficient of performance (COP T ) and cooling capacity by 13% and 23%, respectively. The necessary cooling load could be provided by either a single-effect, double-effect or cascaded and single- and double-effect absorption refrigeration cycle recovering waste heat from a single gas turbine operated at full load. Reducing propane condensing pressure using a closed fresh water condenser cooling loop is found result in propane cycle COP T and cooling capacity enhancements of 63% and 22%, respectively, but would require substantially higher capital investment than for propane subcooling, due to higher cooling load and thus higher waste heat requirements. Considering the present trend of short process enhancement payback periods in the

Experimental results of a direct air-cooled ammonia–lithium nitrate absorption refrigeration system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Llamas-Guillén, S.U.; Cuevas, R.; Best, R.; Gómez, V.H.

2014-01-01

Absorption thermal cooling systems driven by renewable energy are a viable option in order to reduce fossil fuel consumption and the associated emissions. This work shows the results of an air cooled absorption cooling prototype working with an ammonia–lithium nitrate mixture at high ambient temperatures. An absorption refrigeration system was designed and built. The prototype is a one stage ammonia–lithium nitrate air cooled chiller. The experimental system was instrumented to evaluate each component. This paper shows the operation conditions in the experimental unit as well as some of the heat loads encountered at different operating conditions. The system was operated successfully at ambient temperatures in the range of 25–35 °C. A series of test showed that even at ambient temperatures it can be operated at evaporator temperatures below 10 °C producing chilled water for air conditioning applications such as radiative cooling panels. The system proved to stabilize very quickly and no risk of crystallization was encountered so the first results are promising in order to continue with the development of a more advanced prototype. - Highlights: •Experimental results of a direct air-cooled ammonia–lithium nitrate system. •The prototype is a one stage ammonia–lithium nitrate air cooled chiller. •The absorption system was operated successfully at ambient temperatures. •Cooling loads of 4.5 kW were reached in the chilled water side

Spectrophotometer-Integrating-Sphere System for Computing Solar Absorptance

Science.gov (United States)

Witte, William G., Jr.; Slemp, Wayne S.; Perry, John E., Jr.

1991-01-01

A commercially available ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared spectrophotometer was modified to utilize an 8-inch-diameter modified Edwards-type integrated sphere. Software was written so that the reflectance spectra could be used to obtain solar absorptance values of 1-inch-diameter specimens. A descriptions of the system, spectral reflectance, and software for calculation of solar absorptance from reflectance data are presented.

Performance advancement of solar air-conditioning through integrated system design for building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fong, K.F.; Lee, C.K.

2014-01-01

This study is to advance the energy performance of solar air-conditioning system through appropriate component integration from the absorption refrigeration cycle and proper high-temperature cooling. In the previous studies, the solar absorption air-conditioning using the working pair of water – lithium bromide (H 2 O–LiBr) is found to have prominent primary energy saving than the conventional compression air-conditioning for buildings in the hot-humid climate. In this study, three integration strategies have been generated for solar cooling, namely integrated absorption air-conditioning; integrated absorption-desiccant air-conditioning; and integrated absorption-desiccant air-conditioning for radiant cooling. To realize these ideas, the working pair of ammonia – water (NH 3 –H 2 O) was used in the absorption cycle, rather than H 2 O–LiBr. As such, the evaporator and the condenser can be separate from the absorption refrigeration cycle for the new configuration of various integrated design alternatives. Through dynamic simulation, the year-round primary energy saving of the proposed integration strategies for solar NH 3 –H 2 O absorption air-conditioning systems could be up to 50.6% and 25.5%, as compared to the conventional compression air-conditioning and the basic solar H 2 O–LiBr absorption air-conditioning respectively. Consequently, carbon reduction of building air-conditioning can be achieved more effectively through the integrated system design in the hot and humid cities. - Highlights: • Three integration strategies, IAAU, IADAU and IADAU-RC, are proposed to advance solar air-conditioning. • NH 3 –H 2 O is adopted for absorption refrigeration instead of H 2 O–LiBr. • Separate evaporator and condenser, desiccant cooling and radiant cooling are designed for IADAU-RC. • IADAU-RC can have 50.6% primary energy saving against the conventional air-conditioning

Open absorption system for cooling and air conditioning using membrane contactors - Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conde-Petit, M. [M. Conde Engineering, Zuerich (Switzerland); Weber, R.; Dorer, V. [Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), Duebendorf (Switzerland)

2008-07-01

Air conditioning systems based upon the open absorption principle, essentially an absorption device operating at atmospheric pressure, have been proposed and investigated at many instances in the past eighty years. Their potential for improving energy efficiency is clearly recognized in the earliest research reports. By the mid 1950ies, solar thermal energy was being applied to drive open absorption-based air conditioning systems. For several reasons, however, the open absorption technology was not mature enough to take place in the mainstream. In the past two decades, vigorous efforts have been undertaken to reverse this situation, but success continued to elude, despite the fact that the main problems, such as corrosion, aerosols in the supply air, etc., have been identified. This report details the work and the main results from the MemProDEC Project. In this project innovative solutions were proposed, and successfully investigated, for the corrosion problem and the improvement of efficiency of the absorption process, in particular a new method to cool a very compact absorber. The practically uniform flow distribution for all three streams in the absorber (air, water and desiccant) warrants the contact of the air to be dehumidified with the desiccant over the whole surface of exchange (across a porous membrane). This, together with the cooling with water in counter flow to the air, are the key factors for the excellent effectiveness of the absorber. As the results show, the dehydration effectiveness of the prototype absorber is up to 150 % higher than that previously obtained by others. The solutions developed for compactness and modularity represent an important step in the way to flexible manufacturing, i.e. using a single element size to assemble autonomous air handling units of various nominal capacities. And although the manufacturing methods of the individual elements require improvement, namely by avoiding adhesive bonding, the choice of materials and the

Experimental study of efficiency of solar panel by phase change material cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Nicholas Tan Jian; Nan, Wong Jian; Guiping, Cheng

2017-07-01

The dependence of efficiency of photovoltaic panels on their temperature during operation is a major concern for developers and users. In this paper, a phase change material (PCM) cooling system was designed for a 60W mono-crystalline solar panel. Tealights candle was selected as the cooling medium. The solar irradiance was recorded using Kipp & Zonen CMP3 pyranometer and Meteon data logger. Temperature distribution on the surface of solar panel, output voltage and output current of solar panel were measured. The average irradiance throughout data collection was found to be 705W/m2 and highest irradiance was 1100 W/m2. The average solar panel temperature was 43.6°C and a maximum temperature of 53°C was at the center of solar panel. Results showed that average power output and efficiency of the solar panel were 44.4W and 15%, respectively. It was found that the higher the solar irradiance, the lower the efficiency of solar panel and the higher the temperature and power output of solar panel. This is due to the fact that high irradiance results in high power input and high solar panel temperature. But high PV panel temperature reduces its power output. Therefore, the increase of power input outweighs that of power output, which leads to the decrease of efficiency of solar panel with the increase of solar irradiance. Compared with solar panel without cooling, the power output and efficiency of solar panel did not increase with PCM cooling. It indicates that Tealights candle as PCM cooling is not efficient in improving the efficiency of solar panel in this study.

Optimization design of solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou, Zheng; Guan, Zhiqiang; Gurgenci, Hal

2013-01-01

Highlights: • We proposed a cost model for solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower. • We proposed an optimization scheme for this new cooling system. • We optimally designed one for a 50 MW EGS geothermal plant as a demonstration. • Results proved its economic advantages for EGS geothermal application. - Abstract: This paper proposed an optimization scheme for solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower design, in which a detailed cost model was proposed including capital, labour, maintenance and operation costs of each component. Based on the developed cost model, the optimal design option can be identified in terms of the relatively lower annual cost and the relatively higher total extra income over the Solar Enhanced Natural Draft Dry Cooling Tower (SENDDCT) lifetime. As a case study, a SENDDCT was optimally designed to meet the cooling demand for a 50 MW geothermal power plant with Engineered Geothermal System (EGS) technology. The results showed that the optimized SENDDCT not only has better cooling performance during the daytime but also is a cost effective option for EGS geothermal power plants

Exergetic Analysis of a Novel Solar Cooling System for Combined Cycle Power Plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Calise

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a detailed exergetic analysis of a novel high-temperature Solar Assisted Combined Cycle (SACC power plant. The system includes a solar field consisting of innovative high-temperature flat plate evacuated solar thermal collectors, a double stage LiBr-H2O absorption chiller, pumps, heat exchangers, storage tanks, mixers, diverters, controllers and a simple single-pressure Combined Cycle (CC power plant. Here, a high temperature solar cooling system is coupled with a conventional combined cycle, in order to pre-cool gas turbine inlet air in order to enhance system efficiency and electrical capacity. In this paper, the system is analyzed from an exergetic point of view, on the basis of an energy-economic model presented in a recent work, where the obtained main results show that SACC exhibits a higher electrical production and efficiency with respect to the conventional CC. The system performance is evaluated by a dynamic simulation, where detailed simulation models are implemented for all the components included in the system. In addition, for all the components and for the system as whole, energy and exergy balances are implemented in order to calculate the magnitude of the irreversibilities within the system. In fact, exergy analysis is used in order to assess: exergy destructions and exergetic efficiencies. Such parameters are used in order to evaluate the magnitude of the irreversibilities in the system and to identify the sources of such irreversibilities. Exergetic efficiencies and exergy destructions are dynamically calculated for the 1-year operation of the system. Similarly, exergetic results are also integrated on weekly and yearly bases in order to evaluate the corresponding irreversibilities. The results showed that the components of the Joule cycle (combustor, turbine and compressor are the major sources of irreversibilities. System overall exergetic efficiency was around 48%. Average weekly solar collector

Absorption cooling sources atmospheric emissions decrease by implementation of simple algorithm for limiting temperature of cooling water

Science.gov (United States)

Wojdyga, Krzysztof; Malicki, Marcin

2017-11-01

Constant strive to improve the energy efficiency forces carrying out activities aimed at reduction of energy consumption hence decreasing amount of contamination emissions to atmosphere. Cooling demand, both for air-conditioning and process cooling, plays an increasingly important role in the balance of Polish electricity generation and distribution system in summer. During recent years' demand for electricity during summer months has been steadily and significantly increasing leading to deficits of energy availability during particularly hot periods. This causes growing importance and interest in trigeneration power generation sources and heat recovery systems producing chilled water. Key component of such system is thermally driven chiller, mostly absorption, based on lithium-bromide and water mixture. Absorption cooling systems also exist in Poland as stand-alone systems, supplied with heating from various sources, generated solely for them or recovered as waste or useless energy. The publication presents a simple algorithm, designed to reduce the amount of heat for the supply of absorption chillers producing chilled water for the purposes of air conditioning by reducing the temperature of the cooling water, and its impact on decreasing emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Scale of environmental advantages has been rated for specific sources what enabled evaluation and estimation of simple algorithm implementation to sources existing nationally.

Modeling and characteristics analysis of hybrid cooling-tower-solar-chimney system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou, Zheng; He, Suoying

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A 3-D model for hybrid cooling-tower-solar-chimney system is developed. • The inclusion of heat exchangers into solar chimney boosts the power output. • The huge jump in power output is at the expense of heat dissipation capacity. • The heat exchanger as second heat source has greater impact on system performance. - Abstract: The hybrid cooling-tower-solar-chimney system (HCTSC), combining solar chimney with natural draft dry cooling tower, generates electricity and dissipates waste heat for the coupled geothermal power plant simultaneously. Based on a developed 3-D model, performance comparisons between the HCTSC system, solar chimney and natural draft dry cooling tower were performed in terms of power output of turbine and heat dissipation capacity. Results show that compared to the traditional solar chimney with similar geometric dimensions, HCTSC system can achieve over 20 times increase in the power output of turbine. However, this huge jump in power output is at the expense of heat dissipation capacity, which may lead to the malfunction of the coupled thermal power plant. By increasing the heat transfer area of the heat exchanger, the HCTSC system can manage to recover its heat dissipation capacity

The NASA-Lewis/ERDA Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Program

Science.gov (United States)

Couch, J. P.; Bloomfield, H. S.

1975-01-01

The NASA Lewis Research Center plans to carry out a major role in the ERDA Solar Heating and Cooling Program. This role would be to create and test the enabling technology for future solar heating, cooling, and combined heating/cooling systems. The major objectives of the project are to achieve reduction in solar energy system costs, while maintaining adequate performance, reliability, life, and maintenance characteristics. The project approach is to move progressively through component, subsystem, and then system technology advancement phases in parallel with continuing manufacturing cost assessment studies. This approach will be accomplished principally by contract with industry to develop advanced components and subsystems. This advanced hardware will be tested to establish 'technology readiness' both under controlled laboratory conditions and under real sun conditions.

Solar Cooling for Buildings. Workshop Proceedings (Los Angeles, California, February 6-8, 1974).

Science.gov (United States)

de Winter, Francis, Ed.

A consensus has developed among U.S. solar researchers that the solar-powered cooling of buildings is an important topic. Most solar heating systems are technically simpler, and more highly developed, than solar cooling devices are. The determination of the best design concept for any particular application is not a simple process. Significant…

Thermodynamic performance analysis of gas-fired air-cooled adiabatic absorption refrigeration systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, L.; Chen, G.M.; Wang, Q.; Zhong, M.

2007-01-01

In China, the application of small size gas-fired air-cooled absorption refrigeration systems as an alternative for electric compression air conditioning systems has shown broad prospects due to occurrence of electricity peak demand in Chinese big cities and lack of water resources. However, for conventional air-cooled absorption refrigeration systems, it is difficult to enhance the heat and mass transfer process in the falling film absorber, and may cause problems, for example, remarkable increase of pressure, temperature and concentration in the generators, risk of crystallization, acceleration of corrosion, degradation of performance, and so on. This paper presents a gas-fired air-cooled adiabatic absorption refrigeration system using lithium bromide-water solutions as its working fluid, which is designed with a cooling capacity of 16 kW under standard conditions. The system has two new features of waste heat recovery of condensed water from generator and an adiabatic absorber with an air cooler. Performance simulation and characteristic analysis are crucial for the optimal control and reliability of operation in extremely hot climates. A methodology is presented to simulate thermodynamic performance of the system. The influences of outdoor air temperature on operation performances of the system are investigated

Overview of Resources for Geothermal Absorption Cooling for Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Xiaobing [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Gluesenkamp, Kyle R [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Mehdizadeh Momen, Ayyoub [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2015-06-01

This report summarizes the results of a literature review in three areas: available low-temperature/coproduced geothermal resources in the United States, energy use for space conditioning in commercial buildings, and state of the art of geothermal absorption cooling.

Solar sorptive cooling. Technologies, user requirements, practical experience, future prospects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Treffinger, P. [DLR Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., Hardthausen (Germany); Hertlein, H.P. [eds.] [Forschungsverbund Sonnenenergie, Koeln (Germany)

1998-09-01

Sorptive cooling techniques permit the use of low-temperature solar heat, i.e. a renewable energy of low cost and world-wide availability. The Forschungsverbund Sonnenenergie intends to develop solar sorptive cooling technologies to the prototype stage and, in cooperation with the solar industry and its end users, to promote practical application in air conditioning of buildings and cold storage of food. The workshop presents an outline of the state of development of solar sorptive cooling from the view of users and developers. Exemplary solar cooling systems are described, and the potential of open and closed sorptive processes is assessed. Future central activities will be defined in an intensive discussion between planners, producers, users and developers. [German] Der Einsatz von Sorptionstechniken zur Kaelteerzeugung erlaubt es, als treibende Solarenergie Niedertemperatur-Solarwaerme einzusetzen, also eine regenerative Energie mit sehr geringen Kosten und weltweiter Verfuegbarkeit. Der Forschungsverbund Sonnenenergie hat sich als Aufgabe gestellt, die Techniken der solaren Sorptionskuehlung bis zum Prototyp zu entwickeln und mit Industrie und Nutzern die praktische Anwendung voranzubringen. Die Anwendungsfelder sind die Klimatisierung von Gebaeuden und die Kaltlagerung von Lebensmitteln. Der Workshop gibt einen Ueberblick zum Entwicklungsstand der solaren Sorptionskuehlung aus der Sicht der Anwender und Entwickler. Bereits ausgefuehrte Beispiele zur solaren Kuehlung werden vorgestellt und das Potential geschlossener und offener Sorptionsverfahren angegeben. In intensiver Diskussion zwischen Planern, Herstellern, Nutzern und Entwicklern sollen kuenftige Arbeitsschwerpunkte herausgearbeitet werden. (orig.)

Plasmonic Nanostructure for Enhanced Light Absorption in Ultrathin Silicon Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinna He

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The performances of thin film solar cells are considerably limited by the low light absorption. Plasmonic nanostructures have been introduced in the thin film solar cells as a possible solution around this issue in recent years. Here, we propose a solar cell design, in which an ultrathin Si film covered by a periodic array of Ag strips is placed on a metallic nanograting substrate. The simulation results demonstrate that the designed structure gives rise to 170% light absorption enhancement over the full solar spectrum with respect to the bared Si thin film. The excited multiple resonant modes, including optical waveguide modes within the Si layer, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR of Ag stripes, and surface plasmon polaritons (SPP arising from the bottom grating, and the coupling effect between LSPR and SPP modes through an optimization of the array periods are considered to contribute to the significant absorption enhancement. This plasmonic solar cell design paves a promising way to increase light absorption for thin film solar cell applications.

An active cooling system for photovoltaic modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teo, H.G.; Lee, P.S.; Hawlader, M.N.A.

2012-01-01

The electrical efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) cell is adversely affected by the significant increase of cell operating temperature during absorption of solar radiation. A hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar system was designed, fabricated and experimentally investigated in this work. To actively cool the PV cells, a parallel array of ducts with inlet/outlet manifold designed for uniform airflow distribution was attached to the back of the PV panel. Experiments were performed with and without active cooling. A linear trend between the efficiency and temperature was found. Without active cooling, the temperature of the module was high and solar cells can only achieve an efficiency of 8–9%. However, when the module was operated under active cooling condition, the temperature dropped significantly leading to an increase in efficiency of solar cells to between 12% and 14%. A heat transfer simulation model was developed to compare to the actual temperature profile of PV module and good agreement between the simulation and experimental results is obtained.

Adsorption Machine & Desiccant Wheel based SOLAR COOLING in a Second Law perspective

OpenAIRE

Bivona, Santo

2011-01-01

This thesis work is intended to investigate energy and exergy performance of a low power prototype solar air conditioning system based on sorption materials. Its performance is analyzed in the light of both the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics and compared with conventional HVAC systems as well as with a further solar cooling technology based on desiccant wheels (Solar DEC). The adsorption machine based solar cooling plant was thoroughly designed and its thermal performance analysed ...

Design, construction, and testing of a residential solar heating and cooling system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, D.S.; Loef, G.O.G.

1976-06-01

The NSF/CSU Solar House I solar heating and cooling system became operational on 1 July 1974. During the first months of operation the emphasis was placed on adjustment, ''tuning,'' and fault correction in the solar collection and the solar/fuel/cooling subsystems. Following this initial check out period, analysis and testing of the system utilizing a full year of data were accomplished. This report discusses the results of this analysis of the full year of operation. (WDM)

Solar-powered Rankine heat pump for heating and cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Rousseau, J.

1978-01-01

The design, operation and performance of a familyy of solar heating and cooling systems are discussed. The systems feature a reversible heat pump operating with R-11 as the working fluid and using a motor-driven centrifugal compressor. In the cooling mode, solar energy provides the heat source for a Rankine power loop. The system is operational with heat source temperatures ranging from 155 to 220 F; the estimated coefficient of performance is 0.7. In the heating mode, the vapor-cycle heat pump processes solar energy collected at low temperatures (40 to 80 F). The speed of the compressor can be adjusted so that the heat pump capacity matches the load, allowing a seasonal coefficient of performance of about 8 to be attained.

General review of solar-powered closed sorption refrigeration systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarbu, Ioan; Sebarchievici, Calin

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Provide review of development in solar sorption refrigeration technologies. • Theoretical basis and applications of absorption and adsorption cycles are discussed. • Thermodynamic properties of most common working pairs have been reviewed. • Development of hybrid or thermal energy storage adsorption systems was explored. • A comparison between solar-powered absorption and adsorption systems was performed. - Abstract: The negative environmental impacts of burning fossil fuels have forced the energy research community seriously to consider renewable sources, such as naturally available solar energy. Thermally powered refrigeration technologies are classified into two categories: thermo-mechanical technology and sorption technology (open systems or closed systems). This paper provides a detailed review of the solar closed sorption (absorption and adsorption) refrigeration systems, which utilise working pairs (fluids). After an introduction of the basic principles of these systems, the history of development and recent advances in solar sorption refrigeration technologies are reported. The adsorption cooling typically has a lower heat source temperature requirement than the absorption cooling. Based on the coefficient of performance (COP), the absorption systems are preferred over the adsorption systems, and the higher temperature issues can be easily handled with solar adsorption systems. The thermodynamic properties of most common working fluids, as well as the use of ternary mixtures in solar-powered absorption systems, have been reviewed in this study. The paper also refers to new approaches to increase the efficiency and sustainability of the basic adsorption cycles, such as the development of hybrid or thermal energy storage adsorption systems. This research shows that solar-powered closed sorption refrigeration technologies can be attractive alternatives not only to serve the needs for air-conditioning, refrigeration, ice making, thermal

Optimal working pairs for solar adsorption cooling applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allouhi, A.; Kousksou, T.; Jamil, A.; El Rhafiki, T.; Mourad, Y.; Zeraouli, Y.

2015-01-01

This article suggests a detailed comparison of 7 working pairs intended for use in solar adsorption cooling systems. The performance analysis was based on two indicators: adsorption capacity and solar coefficient of performance. Based on a reformed form of the Dubinin–Astakhov equation, a 3D graph was constructed to show the adsorbate concentration in the appropriate adsorbent as a first step to determine the adsorption capacity. A MATLAB program was developed to solve the system equation to predict the solar coefficient of performance for a typical summer day in a Moroccan city Fez. It was found that maximal adsorption capacity is obtained by activated carbon fibre/methanol (0.3406 kg kg −1 ) followed by activated carbon/methanol (0.2565 kg kg −1 ) and activated carbon/ethanol (0.2008 kg kg −1 ). At a condenser temperature of 25 °C, with an adsorbent mass of 20 kg, and an integrated collector-reactor configuration, the couple silica gel/water for air conditioning purpose can reach an SCOP of 0.3843. Activated carbon fibre/methanol is the following more efficient couple and can be used in the different cooling applications with an SCOP ranging from 0.1726 to 0.3287. Furthermore, adequate indicators are evaluated addressing the economic, environmental and safe aspects associated with each working pair. - Highlights: • 7 working pairs intended for use in solar adsorption cooling systems are compared. • A MATLAB program is used to predict the solar coefficient of performance. • Maximal adsorption capacity is obtained by activated carbon fibre/methanol

Improvement in performance of a direct solar-thermally driven diffusion-absorption refrigerator; Leistungssteigerung einer direkt solarthermisch angetriebenen Diffusions-Absorptionskaeltemaschine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmid, Fabian; Bierling, Bernd; Spindler, Klaus [Stuttgart Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Thermodynamik und Waermetechnik (ITW)

2012-07-01

The diffusion-absorption refrigeration process offers the possibility of a wear-free refrigeration system without electricity and noise. At the Institute for Thermodynamics and Thermal Engineering (Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany), a decentralized solar refrigeration system is developed based on this process. The expeller and the thermosiphon pump of this process are integrated in the collector, and thus are heated directly. The diffusion-absorption refrigeration process also can be used for domestic water heating by means of a second cycle in the collector. A cooling capacity of 400 W is to be achieved for each solar collector (2.5 m{sup 2}). Several refrigeration systems can be modular interconnected for higher cooling capacities. As part of the DKV Conference 2011, the construction of the plant, the first measurement data and results were presented. Since then, both the cooling capacity and the coefficient of performance of the diffusion-absorption refrigeration system could be increased significantly. For this, solvent heat exchanger, evaporator, absorber and gas heat exchanger have been optimized in terms of system efficiency. In addition, a stable system operation could be achieved by means of a bypass line. About this line, an exaggerated refrigerant already is removed in the solvent heat exchanger. In addition, a condensate pre-cooler was integrated in order to increase the efficiency. For a detailed investigation of the auxiliary gas cycle facilities, the volume flow and the concentration of the auxiliary gas circuit were examined under utilization of an ultrasonic sensor. In order to evaluate the influence factors by means of a parametric study, the mass transfer in the auxiliary gas circuit was simulated using the two-fluid model. The results of these studies, the current system configuration and the current results are presented in the contribution under consideration.

Characteristics of evacuated tubular solar thermal collector as input energy for cooling system at Universitas Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Alhamid, M. Idrus; Nasruddin, Aisyah, Nyayu; Sholahudin

2017-03-01

This paper discussed the use of solar thermal collector as an input energy for cooling system. The experimental investigation was undertaken to characterize solar collectors that have been integrated with an absorption chiller. About 62 modules of solar collectors connected in series and parallel are placed on the roof top of MRC building. Thermistors were used to measure the fluid temperature at inlet, inside and outlet of each collector, inside the water tank and ambient temperature. Water flow that circulated from the storage was measured by flow meter, while solar radiation was measured by a pyranometer that was mounted parallel to the collector. Experimental data for a data set was collected in March 2016, during the day time hours of 08:00 - 17:00. This data set was used to calculate solar collector efficiency. The results showed that in the maximum solar radiation, the outlet temperature that can be reached is about 78°C, the utilized energy is about 70 kW and solar collector has an efficiency of 64%. While in the minimum solar radiation, the outlet temperature that can be reached is about 53°C, the utilized energy is about 28 kW and solar collector has an efficiency of 43%.

Open absorption system for cooling and air conditioning using membrane contactors. 2006 annual report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conde-Petit, M. [M. Conde Engineering, Zuerich (Switzerland); Weber, R. [Materials Science and Technology (EMPA), Abteilung Bautechnologien, Duebendorf (Switzerland)

2006-11-15

This illustrated annual report for 2006 for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) reports on work being done on the development of an open absorption system for cooling and air-conditioning. The report reviews the construction of a first prototype and the manufacture of its components. The conceptual design of this new type of air handling unit (AHU), operating with a liquid desiccant, is discussed. The AHU is to be autonomous and the system will not require additional mechanical refrigeration. It is to be thermally driven at temperatures below 80 {sup o}C. Waste heat sources, solar collectors, district heating plants and co-generation systems are targeted as providers of thermal energy at this temperature level. Work carried out is reported on, including that on two-stream membrane contactors.

Development of hybrid solar-assisted cooling/heating system

KAUST Repository

Huang, B.J.; Wu, J.H.; Hsu, H.Y.; Wang, J.H.

2010-01-01

A solar-assisted ejector cooling/heating system (SACH) was developed in this study. The SACH combines a pump-less ejector cooling system (ECS) with an inverter-type heat pump (R22) and is able to provide a stable capacity for space cooling. The ECS is driven by solar heat and is used to cool the condenser of the R22 heat pump to increase its COP and reduce the energy consumption of the compressor by regulating the rotational speed of the compressor through a control system. In a complete SACH system test run at outdoor temperature 35 °C, indoor temperature 25 °C and compressor speed 20-80 Hz, and the ECS operating at generator temperature 90 °C and condensing temperature 37 °C, the corresponding condensing temperature of the heat pump in the SACH is 24.5-42 °C, cooling capacity 1.02-2.44 kW, input power 0.20-0.98 kW, and cooling COPc 5.11-2.50. This indicates that the use of ECS in SACH can effectively reduce the condensing temperature of the heat pump by 12.6-7.3 °C and reduce the power consumption by 81.2-34.5%. The SACH can also supply heat from the heat pump. At ambient temperature from 5 °C to 35 °C, the heating COPh is in the range 2.0-3.3. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of hybrid solar-assisted cooling/heating system

KAUST Repository

Huang, B.J.

2010-08-01

A solar-assisted ejector cooling/heating system (SACH) was developed in this study. The SACH combines a pump-less ejector cooling system (ECS) with an inverter-type heat pump (R22) and is able to provide a stable capacity for space cooling. The ECS is driven by solar heat and is used to cool the condenser of the R22 heat pump to increase its COP and reduce the energy consumption of the compressor by regulating the rotational speed of the compressor through a control system. In a complete SACH system test run at outdoor temperature 35 °C, indoor temperature 25 °C and compressor speed 20-80 Hz, and the ECS operating at generator temperature 90 °C and condensing temperature 37 °C, the corresponding condensing temperature of the heat pump in the SACH is 24.5-42 °C, cooling capacity 1.02-2.44 kW, input power 0.20-0.98 kW, and cooling COPc 5.11-2.50. This indicates that the use of ECS in SACH can effectively reduce the condensing temperature of the heat pump by 12.6-7.3 °C and reduce the power consumption by 81.2-34.5%. The SACH can also supply heat from the heat pump. At ambient temperature from 5 °C to 35 °C, the heating COPh is in the range 2.0-3.3. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solar-powered cooling system

Science.gov (United States)

Farmer, Joseph C.

2015-07-28

A solar-powered adsorption-desorption refrigeration and air conditioning system that uses nanostructural materials such as aerogels, zeolites, and sol gels as the adsorptive media. Refrigerant molecules are adsorbed on the high surface area of the nanostructural material while the material is at a relatively low temperature, perhaps at night. During daylight hours, when the nanostructural materials is heated by the sun, the refrigerant are thermally desorbed from the surface of the aerogel, thereby creating a pressurized gas phase in the vessel that contains the aerogel. This solar-driven pressurization forces the heated gaseous refrigerant through a condenser, followed by an expansion valve. In the condenser, heat is removed from the refrigerant, first by circulating air or water. Eventually, the cooled gaseous refrigerant expands isenthalpically through a throttle valve into an evaporator, in a fashion similar to that in more conventional vapor recompression systems.

Different methods for modeling absorption heat transformer powered by solar pond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sencan, Arzu; Kizilkan, Onder; Bezir, Nalan C.; Kalogirou, Soteris A.

2007-01-01

Solar ponds are a type of solar collector used for storing solar energy at temperature below 90 o C. Absorption heat transformers (AHTs) are devices used to increase the temperature of moderately warm fluid to a more useful temperature level. In this study, a theoretical modelling of an absorption heat transformer for the temperature range obtained from an experimental solar pond with dimensions 3.5 x 3.5 x 2 m is presented. The working fluid pair in the absorption heat transformer is aqueous ternary hydroxide fluid consisting of sodium, potassium and caesium hydroxides in the proportions 40:36:24 (NaOH:KOH:CsOH). Different methods such as linear regression (LR), pace regression (PR), sequential minimal optimization (SMO), M5 model tree, M5' rules, decision table and back propagation neural network (BPNN) are used for modelling the absorption heat transformer. The best results were obtained by the back propagation neural network model. A new formulation based on the BPNN is presented to determine the flow ratio (FR) and the coefficient of performance (COP) of the absorption heat transformer. The BPNN procedure is more accurate and requires significantly less computation time than the other methods

Passive Method to Reduce Solar Energy Effect on the Cooling Load in Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orfi J.

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Energy needed for cooling residential and industrial buildings in hot weather countries is the major issue. The period needed for cooling or comfort conditions in those countries exceeds five months and outdoor temperature reaches more than 40 °C. Also, the solar intensity usually high and can reach about one kW per m2. Hence, any attempt to reduce the effect of solar energy on the cooling load is worthy to investigate. The present work analyzes using artificial, naturally ventilated, shading covers to reduce the effect of solar energy. Analytical and numerical analyzes were performed on the effect of adding a ventilated cover to walls and roof exposed to the solar energy.

Multifunctional Solar Systems Based On Two-Stage Regeneration Absorbent Solution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doroshenko A.V.

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The concepts of multifunctional dehumidification solar systems, heat supply, cooling, and air conditioning based on the open absorption cycle with direct absorbent regeneration developed. The solar systems based on preliminary drainage of current of air and subsequent evaporated cooling. The solar system using evaporative coolers both types (direct and indirect. The principle of two-stage regeneration of absorbent used in the solar systems, it used as the basis of liquid and gas-liquid solar collectors. The main principle solutions are designed for the new generation of gas-liquid solar collectors. Analysis of the heat losses in the gas-liquid solar collectors, due to the mechanism of convection and radiation is made. Optimal cost of gas and liquid, as well as the basic dimensions and configuration of the working channel of the solar collector identified. Heat and mass transfer devices, belonging to the evaporative cooling system based on the interaction between the film and the gas stream and the liquid therein. Multichannel structure of the polymeric materials used to create the tip. Evaporative coolers of water and air both types (direct and indirect are used in the cooling of the solar systems. Preliminary analysis of the possibilities of multifunctional solar absorption systems made reference to problems of cooling media and air conditioning on the basis of experimental data the authors. Designed solar systems feature low power consumption and environmental friendliness.

Broadband solar absorption enhancement via periodic nanostructuring of electrodes.

KAUST Repository

Adachi, Michael M; Labelle, André J; Thon, Susanna M; Lan, Xinzheng; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H

2013-01-01

Solution processed colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells have great potential for large area low-cost photovoltaics. However, light utilization remains low mainly due to the tradeoff between small carrier transport lengths and longer infrared photon absorption lengths. Here, we demonstrate a bottom-illuminated periodic nanostructured CQD solar cell that enhances broadband absorption without compromising charge extraction efficiency of the device. We use finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations to study the nanostructure for implementation in a realistic device and then build proof-of-concept nanostructured solar cells, which exhibit a broadband absorption enhancement over the wavelength range of λ = 600 to 1,100 nm, leading to a 31% improvement in overall short-circuit current density compared to a planar device containing an approximately equal volume of active material. Remarkably, the improved current density is achieved using a light-absorber volume less than half that typically used in the best planar devices.

Broadband solar absorption enhancement via periodic nanostructuring of electrodes.

KAUST Repository

Adachi, Michael M

2013-10-14

Solution processed colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells have great potential for large area low-cost photovoltaics. However, light utilization remains low mainly due to the tradeoff between small carrier transport lengths and longer infrared photon absorption lengths. Here, we demonstrate a bottom-illuminated periodic nanostructured CQD solar cell that enhances broadband absorption without compromising charge extraction efficiency of the device. We use finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations to study the nanostructure for implementation in a realistic device and then build proof-of-concept nanostructured solar cells, which exhibit a broadband absorption enhancement over the wavelength range of λ = 600 to 1,100 nm, leading to a 31% improvement in overall short-circuit current density compared to a planar device containing an approximately equal volume of active material. Remarkably, the improved current density is achieved using a light-absorber volume less than half that typically used in the best planar devices.

Radiative Cooling: Principles, Progress, and Potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Hossain, Md. Muntasir

2016-01-01

The recent progress on radiative cooling reveals its potential for applications in highly efficient passive cooling. This approach utilizes the maximized emission of infrared thermal radiation through the atmospheric window for releasing heat and minimized absorption of incoming atmospheric radiation. These simultaneous processes can lead to a device temperature substantially below the ambient temperature. Although the application of radiative cooling for nighttime cooling was demonstrated a few decades ago, significant cooling under direct sunlight has been achieved only recently, indicating its potential as a practical passive cooler during the day. In this article, the basic principles of radiative cooling and its performance characteristics for nonradiative contributions, solar radiation, and atmospheric conditions are discussed. The recent advancements over the traditional approaches and their material and structural characteristics are outlined. The key characteristics of the thermal radiators and solar reflectors of the current state‐of‐the‐art radiative coolers are evaluated and their benchmarks are remarked for the peak cooling ability. The scopes for further improvements on radiative cooling efficiency for optimized device characteristics are also theoretically estimated. PMID:27812478

An efficient method for computing the absorption of solar radiation by water vapor

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, M.-D.; Arking, A.

1981-01-01

Chou and Arking (1980) have developed a fast but accurate method for computing the IR cooling rate due to water vapor. Using a similar approach, the considered investigation develops a method for computing the heating rates due to the absorption of solar radiation by water vapor in the wavelength range from 4 to 8.3 micrometers. The validity of the method is verified by comparison with line-by-line calculations. An outline is provided of an efficient method for transmittance and flux computations based upon actual line parameters. High speed is achieved by employing a one-parameter scaling approximation to convert an inhomogeneous path into an equivalent homogeneous path at suitably chosen reference conditions.

Lighting and cooling energy consumption in an open-plan office using solar film coating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Danny H.W.; Lam, Tony N.T.; Wong, S.L.; Tsang, Ernest K.W.

2008-01-01

In subtropical Hong Kong, solar heat gain via glazing contributes to a significant proportion of the building envelope cooling load. The principal fenestration design includes eliminating direct sunlight and reducing cooling requirements. Daylighting is an effective approach to allow a flexible building facade design strategy, and to enhance an energy-efficient and green building development. This paper studies the lighting and cooling energy performances for a fully air-conditioned open-plan office when solar control films together with daylight-linked lighting controls are being used. Measurements were undertaken at two stages including the electricity expenditures for the office using photoelectric dimming controls only (first stage) and together with the solar control film coatings on the windows (second stage). Electric lighting and cooling energy consumption, transmitted daylight illuminance and solar radiation were systematically recorded and analysed. The measured data were also used for conducting and validating the building energy simulations. The findings showed that the solar film coatings coupled with lighting dimming controls cut down 21.2% electric lighting and 6.9% cooling energy consumption for the open-plan office

Solar cooling - Economical assessment and CO{sub 2} balance; Solar Cooling. Oekonomische Bewertung und CO{sub 2} Bilanzierung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gantenbein, P.; Machein, T.; Frank, E.

2010-07-01

This short, illustrated final report discusses how thermally-driven sorption chiller systems can help meet future cooling needs in houses and workplaces. Increasing global temperatures are commented on and their influence on space heating and cooling is discussed. The modelling of a single-family home, an office building and an industrial building is described. Three cooling systems are taken into consideration: a single-stage LiBr-H{sub 2}O absorber machine using solar energy from vacuum-pipe collectors, a compressor refrigeration system with a heating function powered by photovoltaics and a compressor system run on mains electricity. The simulations were carried out for locations in three different climate zones, in Lugano, Switzerland, Athens, Greece and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The results are commented on.

Viability and application of ethanol production coupled with solar cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Americano da Costa, Marcus V.; Pasamontes, Manuel; Normey-Rico, Julio E.; Guzmán, José L.; Berenguel, Manuel

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Two types of clean energy were analized together: bioethanol and solar. ► The ethanol fermentation process was modeled. ► An advanced control was implemented in the unit model. ► A real plant of solar energy was operated. ► The experiments were performed using the Hardware in the Loop technique. -- Abstract: This work presents a combined optimization system to use solar energy as support for the ethanol industry. Solar radiation is used to produce energy in order to assist the cooling systems in the fermentation process. The experiments have been performed following a hardware in the loop technique by mixing the solar cooling plant in the Centro de Investigación de Energía Solar (CIESOL) located at the University of Almería (Spain), and a simulator of ethanol fermentation processes in Brazilian factories. The results are analyzed in detail to show the main advantages (important increment in ethanol production and use of clean energies) compared to the mode of operation of the current factories in Brazil.

Nanoimprint-Transfer-Patterned Solids Enhance Light Absorption in Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Kim, Younghoon

2017-03-13

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) materials are of interest in thin-film solar cells due to their size-tunable bandgap and low-cost solution-processing. However, CQD solar cells suffer from inefficient charge extraction over the film thicknesses required for complete absorption of solar light. Here we show a new strategy to enhance light absorption in CQD solar cells by nanostructuring the CQD film itself at the back interface. We use two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations to study quantitatively the light absorption enhancement in nanostructured back interfaces in CQD solar cells. We implement this experimentally by demonstrating a nanoimprint-transfer-patterning (NTP) process for the fabrication of nanostructured CQD solids with highly ordered patterns. We show that this approach enables a boost in the power conversion efficiency in CQD solar cells primarily due to an increase in short-circuit current density as a result of enhanced absorption through light-trapping.

Improving the Solar Panel Efficiency by Using Cooling and Cleaning Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anmar Khalil Ibrahim

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This paper is a contribution to research work which aims at ending the electricity crisis in Iraq. The electric power stations, which use conventional fuel, are unable to provide the growing population with electricity all day-long. Moreover, electric distribution lines are sometimes exposed to attacks by terrorists. This paper recommends solar energy as the optimum solution to the electricity problem in Iraq, since it is both renewable and friendly to the environment. The paper also concentrated on reliability techniques to improve the efficiency of the solar energy system. This was achieved by means of designing and constructing a cooling system that consists of fans, sprinklers and wipers to eliminate excessive heat from solar panels when temperature rises to maximum levels. Sprinklers and wipers are also useful for cleaning the panels because dust is a negative factor which undermines the generation capacity of solar panels.   The cooling system is operated by means of a microcontroller that is programmed through Proteus 8, Arduino, and Matlab2016. Statistics reveal that a cooling system has significantly improved the productive capacity of the solar system and it can achieve an energy gain of (34.55%.

System design package for the solar heating and cooling central data processing system

Science.gov (United States)

1978-01-01

The central data processing system provides the resources required to assess the performance of solar heating and cooling systems installed at remote sites. These sites consist of residential, commercial, government, and educational types of buildings, and the solar heating and cooling systems can be hot-water, space heating, cooling, and combinations of these. The instrumentation data associated with these systems will vary according to the application and must be collected, processed, and presented in a form which supports continuity of performance evaluation across all applications. Overall software system requirements were established for use in the central integration facility which transforms raw data collected at remote sites into performance evaluation information for assessing the performance of solar heating and cooling systems.

Non-linear absorption for concentrated solar energy transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaramillo, O. A; Del Rio, J.A; Huelsz, G [Centro de Investigacion de Energia, UNAM, Temixco, Morelos (Mexico)

2000-07-01

In order to determine the maximum solar energy that can be transported using SiO{sub 2} optical fibers, analysis of non-linear absorption is required. In this work, we model the interaction between solar radiation and the SiO{sub 2} optical fiber core to determine the dependence of the absorption of the radioactive intensity. Using Maxwell's equations we obtain the relation between the refractive index and the electric susceptibility up to second order in terms of the electric field intensity. This is not enough to obtain an explicit expression for the non-linear absorption. Thus, to obtain the non-linear optical response, we develop a microscopic model of an harmonic driven oscillators with damp ing, based on the Drude-Lorentz theory. We solve this model using experimental information for the SiO{sub 2} optical fiber, and we determine the frequency-dependence of the non-linear absorption and the non-linear extinction of SiO{sub 2} optical fibers. Our results estimate that the average value over the solar spectrum for the non-linear extinction coefficient for SiO{sub 2} is k{sub 2}=10{sup -}29m{sup 2}V{sup -}2. With this result we conclude that the non-linear part of the absorption coefficient of SiO{sub 2} optical fibers during the transport of concentrated solar energy achieved by a circular concentrator is negligible, and therefore the use of optical fibers for solar applications is an actual option. [Spanish] Con el objeto de determinar la maxima energia solar que puede transportarse usando fibras opticas de SiO{sub 2} se requiere el analisis de absorcion no linear. En este trabajo modelamos la interaccion entre la radiacion solar y el nucleo de la fibra optica de SiO{sub 2} para determinar la dependencia de la absorcion de la intensidad radioactiva. Mediante el uso de las ecuaciones de Maxwell obtenemos la relacion entre el indice de refraccion y la susceptibilidad electrica hasta el segundo orden en terminos de intensidad del campo electrico. Esto no es

A portable solar-powered air-cooling system based on phase-change materials for a vehicle cabin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qi, Lingfei; Pan, Hongye; Zhu, Xin; Zhang, Xingtian; Salman, Waleed; Zhang, Zutao; Li, Li; Zhu, Miankuan; Yuan, Yanping; Xiang, Bo

2017-01-01

Graphical abstract: This paper proposed a portable solar-powered air cooling system for a vehicle cabin based on Phase-change Materials. The cooling system contains three main parts: a solar-energy collection module, an energy-storage module and a phase-change cooling module. The operating principle can be described as follows. For energy input, the solar-energy-collection module harvests solar energy and converts it to electricity. The power-storage module stores the electrical energy in the supercapacitor to power the electrical equipment, mainly the air pump (AP) and water pump (WP) of the phase-change cooling module. Finally, the phase-change cooling module provides cold air for the vehicle cabin to create a comfortable vehicle interior in a hot summer. The proposed system is demonstrated through thermal simulations, which show the long-duration cooling effect of the system. Temperature drops of were obtained in field tests, predicting that the proposed cooling system is beneficial and practical for cooling vehicle cabins. - Highlights: • A novel portable air cooling system based on PCMs is presented. • Solar energy was adopted to power the proposed air cooling system. • This proposed system is used for cooling vehicle cabins exposed to the sun. • Experimental results show that the proposed system has a good cooling effect. - Abstract: In summer, the temperature is very high inside vehicles parked under the hot sun. This causes consuming more fossil energy to power the air conditioner and generation of harmful gases. There is currently no effective method to address this problem in an energy-saving and environmentally friendly manner. In this paper, a novel solar-powered air-cooling system for vehicle cabins is proposed based on Phase-change Materials (PCMs); the system prevents the temperature inside a vehicle cabin from rising too high when the vehicle is parked outdoor exposure to the sun. The proposed system consists of three main parts: a solar

Simulation Analysis of the Four Configurations of Solar Desiccant Cooling System Using Evaporative Cooling in Tropical Weather in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. M. S. Dezfouli

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A high demand for air conditioning systems exists in hot and humid regions because of the warm climate during the year. The high energy consumption of conventional air conditioning system is the reason for our investigation of the solar desiccant cooling system as an energy-efficient cooling system. Four model configurations were considered to determine the best configuration of a solar desiccant cooling system: one-stage ventilation, one-stage recirculation, two-stage ventilation, and two-stage recirculation. These models were stimulated for 8,760 hr of operation under hot and humid weather in Malaysia. Several parameters (i.e., coefficient of performance or COP, room temperature and humidity ratio, and the solar fraction of each system were evaluated by detecting the temperature and humidity ratio of the different points of each configuration by TRNSYS simulation. The latent and sensible loads of the test room were 0.875 kW and 2.625 kW, respectively. By investigating the simulation results of the four systems, the ventilation modes were found to be higher than the recirculation modes in the one- and two-stage solar desiccant cooling systems. The isothermal dehumidification COP of the two-stage ventilation was higher than that of the two-stage recirculation. Hence, the two-stage ventilation mode desiccant cooling system in a hot and humid area has higher efficiency than the other configurations.

Optimal control and performance test of solar-assisted cooling system

KAUST Repository

Huang, B.J.; Yen, C.W.; Wu, J.H.; Liu, J.H.; Hsu, H.Y.; Petrenko, V.O.; Chang, J.M.; Lu, C.W.

2010-01-01

temperature. This will make the SACH always produce cooling effect even at lower solar radiation periods while the ejector performs at off-design conditions. The energy saving of A/C is experimentally shown 50-70% due to the cooling performance of ECS

Solar cycle variability of nonmigrating tides in the infrared cooling of the thermosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Nischal, N.; Oberheide, J.; Mlynczak, M. G.; Marsh, D. R.

2017-12-01

Nitric Oxide (NO) at 5.3 μm and Carbon dioxide (CO2) at 15 μm are the major infrared emissions responsible for the radiative cooling of the thermosphere. We study the impact of two important diurnal nonmigrating tides, the DE2 and DE3, on NO and CO2 infrared emissions over a complete solar cycle (2002-2013) by (i) analyzing NO and CO2 cooling rate data from SABER and (ii) photochemical modeling using dynamical tides from a thermospheric empirical tidal model, CTMT. Both observed and modeled results show that the NO cooling rate amplitudes for DE2 and DE3 exhibit strong solar cycle dependence. NO 5.3 μm cooling rate tides are relatively unimportant for the infrared energy budget during solar minimum but important during solar maximum. On the other hand DE2 and DE3 in CO2 show comparatively small variability over a solar cycle. CO2 15 μm cooling rate tides remain, to a large extent, constant between solar minimum and maximum. This different responses by NO and CO2 emissions to the DE2 and DE3 during a solar cycle comes form the fact that the collisional reaction rate for NO is highly sensitive to the temperature comparative to that for CO2. Moreover, the solar cycle variability of these nonmigrating tides in thermospheric infrared emissions shows a clear QBO signals substantiating the impact of tropospheric weather system on the energy budget of the thermosphere. The relative contribution from the individual tidal drivers; temperature, density and advection to the observed DE2 and DE3 tides does not vary much over the course of the solar cycle, and this is true for both NO and CO2 emissions.

Feasibility and Basic Design of Solar Integrated Absorption Refrigeration for an Industry

KAUST Repository

Akhtar, Saad; Khan, Tariq S.; Ilyas, Saad; Alshehhi, Mohamed S.

2015-01-01

capacity, cooling area. A comparison is made between solar cooling potential of Pakistan and existing sites all across the globe. Finally an economic analysis is carried out to demonstrate the financial viability of the new cooling system.

Dynamic model of an autonomous solar absorption refrigerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali Fellah; Tahar Khir; Ammar Ben Brahim

2009-01-01

The performance analysis of a solar absorption refrigerator operating in an autonomous way is investigated. The water/LiBr machine satisfies the air-conditioning needs along the day. The refrigerator performances were simulated regarding a dynamic model. For the solar driven absorption machines, two applications could be distinguished. The sun provides the thermal part of the useful energy. In this case, it is necessary to use additional energy as the electric one to activate the pumps, the fans and the control system. On the other hand, the sun provides all the necessary energy. Here, both photovoltaic cells and thermal concentrators should be used. The simulation in dynamic regime of the cycle requires the knowledge of the geometric characteristics of every component as the exchange areas and the internal volumes. Real characteristics of a refrigerator available at the applied thermodynamic research unit (ATRU) at the engineers' national school of Gabes are notified. The development of the thermal and matter balances in every component of the cycle has permitted to simulate in dynamic regime the performances of a solar absorption refrigerator operating with the water/LiBr couple for air-conditioning needs. The developed model could be used to perform intermittent refrigeration cycle autonomously driven. (author)

Solar heating and cooling of residential buildings: sizing, installation and operation of systems. 1980 edition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-09-01

This manual was prepared as a text for a training course on solar heating and cooling of residential buildings. The course and text are directed toward sizing, installation, operation, and maintenance of solar systems for space heating and hot water supply, and solar cooling is treated only briefly. (MHR)

Variable Emittance Electrochromics Using Ionic Electrolytes and Low Solar Absorptance Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasekhar, Prasanna

2011-01-01

One of the last remaining technical hurdles with variable emittance devices or skins based on conducting polymer electrochromics is the high solar absorptance of their top surfaces. This high solar absorptance causes overheating of the skin when facing the Sun in space. Existing technologies such as mechanical louvers or loop heat pipes are virtually inapplicable to micro (solar absorption to Alpha(s) of between 0.30 and 0.46. Coupled with the emittance properties of the variable emittance skins, this lowers the surface temperature of the skins facing the Sun to between 30 and 60 C, which is much lower than previous results of 100 C, and is well within acceptable satellite operations ranges. The performance of this technology is better than that of current new technologies such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), electrostatics, and electrophoretics, especially in applications involving micro and nano spacecraft. The coatings are deposited inside a high vacuum, layering multiple coatings onto the top surfaces of variable emittance skins. They are completely transparent in the entire relevant infrared region (about 2 to 45 microns), but highly reflective in the visible-NIR (near infrared) region of relevance to solar absorptance.

Solar assisted conditioning of residences with floor heating and ceiling cooling: review and simulation results

OpenAIRE

Egrican, Nilufer; Korkmaz, Adnan

2015-01-01

Solar or solar assisted heating and cooling systems are becoming widespread to reduce CO2 emissions. Efficient radiant space heating and cooling systems can be used to decrease the energy bills and improve occupant thermal comfort in buildings. This study uses the TRNSYS program, for the modeling and simulation of solar assisted radiant heating and cooling of a building with the domestic hot water supply, to examine the effects of various parameters on energy consumption. Calculations are per...

Solar cooling - implementation of intelligent concepts; Solare Kuehlung - intelligente Konzepte werden Realitaet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Puettmer, M. [Goetz GmbH, Metall- und Anlagenbau, Fellbach (Germany); Kranz, H.R. [Siemens AG, Karlsruhe (Germany)

1995-12-31

In chapter 11 of the anthology about building control the subject solar cooling is described. The following aspects are discussed: changed preconditions for thermal building concepts, building facades and energy supply - one unit. Can cold be economically generated by solar energy? (BWI) [Deutsch] Kapitel 11 des Sammelbandes ueber Building Control ist dem Thema der solaren Kuehlung gewidmet. In diesem Zusammenhang werden folgende Themenkreise angesprochen: Geaenderte Voraussetzungen fuer thermische Gebaeudekonzepte; Gebaeudefassade und Energieversorgung: eine Einheit; Kann Kaelte mit der Sonne wirtschaftlich erzeugt werden? (BWI)

Solar Absorptance of Cermet Coatings Evaluated

Science.gov (United States)

Jaworske, Donald A.

2004-01-01

Cermet coatings, molecular mixtures of metal and ceramic, are being considered for the heat inlet surface of solar Stirling convertors. In this application, the key role of the cermet coating is to absorb as much of the incident solar energy as possible. To achieve this objective, the cermet coating has a high solar absorptance value. Cermet coatings are manufactured utilizing sputter deposition, and many different metal and ceramic combinations can be created. The ability to mix metal and ceramic at the atomic level offers the opportunity to tailor the composition, and hence, the optical properties of these coatings. The NASA Glenn Research Center has prepared and characterized a wide variety of cermet coatings utilizing different metals deposited in an aluminum oxide ceramic matrix. In addition, the atomic oxygen durability of these coatings has been evaluated.

Solar Heating and Cooling of Residential Buildings: Sizing, Installation and Operation of Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins. Solar Energy Applications Lab.

This training course and a companion course titled "Design of Systems for Solar Heating and Cooling of Residential Buildings," are designed to train home designers and builders in the fundamentals of solar hydronic and air systems for space heating and cooling and domestic hot water heating for residential buildings. Each course, organized in 22…

Radiation absorption and optimization of solar photocatalytic reactors for environmental applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Colina-Márquez, Jose; Machuca-Martínez, Fiderman; Li Puma, Gianluca

2010-07-01

This study provides a systematic and quantitative approach to the analysis and optimization of solar photocatalytic reactors utilized in environmental applications such as pollutant remediation and conversion of biomass (waste) to hydrogen. Ray tracing technique was coupled with the six-flux absorption scattering model (SFM) to analyze the complex radiation field in solar compound parabolic collectors (CPC) and tubular photoreactors. The absorption of solar radiation represented by the spatial distribution of the local volumetric rate of photon absorption (LVRPA) depends strongly on catalyst loading and geometry. The total radiation absorbed in the reactors, the volumetric rate of absorption (VRPA), was analyzed as a function of the optical properties (scattering albedo) of the photocatalyst. The VRPA reached maxima at specific catalyst concentrations in close agreement with literature experimental studies. The CPC has on average 70% higher photon absorption efficiency than a tubular reactor and requires 39% less catalyst to operate under optimum conditions. The "apparent optical thickness" is proposed as a new dimensionless parameter for optimization of CPC and tubular reactors. It removes the dependence of the optimum catalyst concentration on tube diameter and photocatalyst scattering albedo. For titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) Degussa P25, maximum photon absorption occurs at apparent optical thicknesses of 7.78 for CPC and 12.97 for tubular reactors.

International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Program

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, A. J.

This trip was undertaken to participate in and represent the United States Industry at the International Energy Agency (IEA) Solar Heating and Cooling Program (SHCP) Task 14 Workshop. The meeting took place at the A1 Bani Hotel in Rome Italy.

Review of state-of-the-art of solar collector corrosion processes. Task 1 of solar collector studies for solar heating and cooling applications. Final technical progress report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clifford, J E; Diegle, R B

1980-04-11

The state-of-the-art of solar collector corrosion processes is reviewed, and Task 1 of a current research program on use of aqueous heat transfer fluids for solar heating and cooling is summarized. The review of available published literature has indicated that lack of quantitative information exists relative to collector corrosion at the present time, particularly for the higher temperature applications of solar heating and cooling compared to domestic water heating. Solar collector systems are reviewed from the corrosion/service life viewpoint, with emphasis on various applications, collector design, heat transfer fluids, and freeze protection methods. Available information (mostly qualitative) on collector corrosion technology is reviewed to indicate potential corrosion problem areas and corrosion prevention practices. Sources of limited quantitative data that are reviewed are current solar applications, research programs on collector corrosion, and pertinent experience in related applications of automotive cooling and non-solar heating and cooling. A data bank was developed to catalog corrosion information. Appendix A of this report is a bibliography of the data bank, with abstracts reproduced from presently available literature accessions (about 220). This report is presented as a descriptive summary of information that is contained in the data bank.

Enhanced light absorption in an ultrathin silicon solar cell utilizing plasmonic nanostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Sanshui; Mortensen, Niels A.

2012-10-01

Nowadays, bringing photovoltaics to the market is mainly limited by high cost of electricity produced by the photovoltaic solar cell. Thin-film photovoltaics offers the potential for a significant cost reduction compared to traditional photovoltaics. However, the performance of thin-film solar cells is generally limited by poor light absorption. We propose an ultrathin-film silicon solar cell configuration based on SOI structure, where the light absorption is enhanced by use of plasmonic nanostructures. By placing a one-dimensional plasmonic nanograting on the bottom of the solar cell, the generated photocurrent for a 200 nm-thickness crystalline silicon solar cell can be enhanced by 90% in the considered wavelength range. These results are paving a promising way for the realization of high-efficiency thin-film solar cells.

Active solar heating and cooling information user study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belew, W.W.; Wood, B.L.; Marle, T.L.; Reinhardt, C.L.

1981-01-01

The results of a series of telephone interviews with groups of users of information on active solar heating and cooling (SHAC). An earlier study identified the information user groups in the solar community and the priority (to accelerate solar energy commercialization) of getting information to each group. In the current study only high-priority groups were examined. Results from 19 SHAC groups respondents are analyzed in this report: DOE-Funded Researchers, Non-DOE-Funded Researchers, Representatives of Manufacturers (4 groups), Distributors, Installers, Architects, Builders, Planners, Engineers (2 groups), Representatives of Utilities, Educators, Cooperative Extension Service County Agents, Building Owners/Managers, and Homeowners (2 groups). The data will be used as input to the determination of information products and services the Solar Energy Research Institute, the Solar Energy Information Data Bank Network, and the entire information outreach community should be preparing and disseminating.

Ab-sorption machines for heating and cooling in future energy systems - Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tozer, R.; Gustafsson, M.

2000-12-15

After the Executive Summary and a brief introductory chapter, Chapter 2, Sorption Technologies for Heating and Cooling in Future Energy Systems, reviews the main types of sorption systems. Chapter 3, Market Segmentation, then considers the major segments of the market including residential, commercial/institutional and industrial, and the types of sorption hardware most suitable to each. The highly important residential and commercial/institutional markets are mostly concerned with air-conditioning of buildings. More applications are identified and discussed for the industrial market, including refrigeration, food-storage cooling, process cooling, and process heating at various temperature ranges from hot water for hand-washing to high-temperature (greater than 130C). Other interesting industrial applications are absorption cooling or heating combined with co-generation, desiccant cooling, gas turbine inlet air cooling, combining absorption chillers with district heating systems, direct-fired absorption heat pumps (AHPs), and a closed greenhouse concept being developed for that economically important sector in the Netherlands. Most of the sorption market at this time comprises direct-fired absorption chillers, or hot water or steam absorption chillers indirectly driven by direct-fired boilers. Throughout the report, this category of absorption chillers is referred to generically as 'direct-fired'. In addition, this report covers absorption (reversible) heat pumps, absorption heat transformers, compression-absorption heat pumps, and adsorption chillers and heat pumps. Adsorption systems together with desiccant systems are also addressed. Chapter 4, Factors Affecting the Market, considers economic, environmental and policy issues. The geographical make-up of the world sorption market is then reviewed, followed by a number of practical operating and control considerations. These include vacuum requirements, crystallisation, corrosion, maintenance, health and

Solar Sustainable Heating, Cooling and Ventilation of a Net Zero Energy House

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazanci, Ongun Berk; Skrupskelis, Martynas; Olesen, Bjarne W.

Present work addresses the heating, cooling and ventilation concerns of the Technical University of Denmark’s house, Fold, for Solar Decathlon Europe 2012. Various innovative approaches are investigated, namely, utilization of ground, photo-voltaic/thermal (PV/T) panels and phase change materials...... (PCM). The ground heat exchanger acts as the heat sink and heat source for cooling and heating seasons, respectively. Free cooling enables the same cooling effect to be delivered with 8% of the energy consumption of a representative chiller. The heating and cooling needs of the house are addressed...... by the embedded pipes which are coupled with the ground. Ventilation is mainly used to control the humidity and to remove sensory and chemical pollution. PV/T panels enable the house to be a “plus” energy house. PV/T also yields to a solar fraction of 63% and 31% for Madrid and Copenhagen, respectively...

Simulation of solar-powered ammonia-water integrated hybrid cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chinnappa, J.C.V.; Wijeysundera, N.E.

1992-01-01

A number of solar-operated air-conditioning systems based on the H 2 O-LiBr absorption chiller were built, installed, and monitored. A systematic study at the University of Colorado has been published. This paper presents a simple cost-benefit analysis of the conventional vapor compression system (VCS), the vapor absorption system (VAS), and the integrated hybrid system (IHS). The cost of energy input to the VAS and the IHS were compared with the energy cost of the VCS that these solar-powered systems replace. It was found that cost savings can be realized with solar-powered systems, only after a critical overall solar fraction is exceeded. Typically, this value was about 0.7 for a VAS and about 0.12 for a IHS. These cost-benefit results provided the motivation for a more detailed study of the IHS. There has also been other efforts in this direction

Mechanical and experimental study on freeze proof solar powered adsorption cooling tube using active carbon/methanol working pair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Huizhong; Zhang Min; Liu Zhenyan; Liu Yanling; Ma Xiaodong

2008-01-01

The freeze proof solar cooling tube, which can produce cooling capacity with the refrigerant temperature below 0 deg. C using solar light as energy and active carbon-methanol as working pair, was firstly designed and made in this research. This paper focused on mechanical and experimental study on a freeze proof solar powered adsorption cooling tube. The following experimental results could be concluded: at the solar radiation value between 15.3 and 17.1 MJ m -2 , the highest adsorbent bed temperature is below 110 deg. C. The freeze proof solar cooling tube's cooling capacity was about 87-99 kJ, and the coefficient of performance (COP) was more than 0.11 when the evaporation temperature was about -4 deg. C

Magnetic and solar effects on ionospheric absorption at high latitude

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Pietrella

2002-06-01

Full Text Available Some periods of intense solar events and of strong magnetic storms have been selected and their effects on the ionospheric D region have been investigated on the basis of ionospheric absorption data derived from riometer measurements made at the Italian Antarctic Base of Terra Nova Bay (geographic coordinates: 74.69 S, 164.12 E; geomagnetic coordinates: 77.34 S, 279.41 E. It was found that sharp increases in ionospheric absorption are mainly due to solar protons emission with an energy greater than 10 MeV. Moreover, the day to night ratios of the ionospheric absorption are greater than 2 in the case of strong events of energetic protons emitted by the Sun, while during magnetic storms, these ratios range between 1 and 2.

Solar heating and cooling technical data and systems analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, D. L.

1977-01-01

The research activities described herein were concentrated on the areas of economics, heating and cooling systems, architectural design, materials characteristics, climatic conditions, educational information packages, and evaluation of solar energy systems and components.

Optimum dry-cooling sub-systems for a solar air conditioner

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, J. L. S.; Namkoong, D.

1978-01-01

Dry-cooling sub-systems for residential solar powered Rankine compression air conditioners were economically optimized and compared with the cost of a wet cooling tower. Results in terms of yearly incremental busbar cost due to the use of dry-cooling were presented for Philadelphia and Miami. With input data corresponding to local weather, energy rate and capital costs, condenser surface designs and performance, the computerized optimization program yields design specifications of the sub-system which has the lowest annual incremental cost.

Comparison of solar panel cooling system by using dc brushless fan and dc water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irwan, Y M; Leow, W Z; Irwanto, M; M, Fareq; Hassan, S I S; Amelia, A R; Safwati, I

2015-01-01

The purpose of this article is to discuss comparison of solar panel cooling system by using DC brushless fan and DC water pump. Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation is an interesting technique to reduce non-renewable energy consumption and as a renewable energy. The temperature of PV modules increases when it absorbs solar radiation, causing a decrease in efficiency. A solar cooling system is design, construct and experimentally researched within this work. To make an effort to cool the PV module, Direct Current (DC) brushless fan and DC water pump with inlet/outlet manifold are designed for constant air movement and water flow circulation at the back side and front side of PV module representatively. Temperature sensors were installed on the PV module to detect temperature of PV. PIC microcontroller was used to control the DC brushless fan and water pump for switch ON or OFF depend on the temperature of PV module automatically. The performance with and without cooling system are shown in this experiment. The PV module with DC water pump cooling system increase 3.52%, 36.27%, 38.98%in term of output voltage, output current, output power respectively. It decrease 6.36 °C compare than to PV module without DC water pump cooling system. While DC brushless fan cooling system increase 3.47%, 29.55%, 32.23%in term of output voltage, output current, and output power respectively. It decrease 6.1 °C compare than to PV module without DC brushless fan cooling system. The efficiency of PV module with cooling system was increasing compared to PV module without cooling system; this is because the ambient temperature dropped significantly. The higher efficiency of PV cell, the payback period of the system can be shorted and the lifespan of PV module can also be longer. (paper)

Fiscal 1974 Sunshine Project result report. R and D on solar cooling/heating and hot water supply system (R and D on the system for new detached houses); 1994 nendo taiyo reidanbo oyobi kyuto system no kenkyu kaihatsu. Shinchiku kojin jutakuyo system no kenkyu kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1975-05-30

This report describes the fiscal 1974 result on the solar cooling/heating and hot water supply system. The report includes the system analysis result (collection of existing technical data, analysis of weather conditions, profitability assessment, concept design of the primary experimental house), and the research result on equipment and materials (view and evaluation of existing technologies, selective transparent and absorption materials, the primary prototype solar heat collector model, refrigerator). As the study result, the spheroidal experimental house was adopted. The solar heat utilization system is a central air-conditioning equipment composed of heating by hot water obtained from the solar heat collector, and cooling by absorption refrigerator. Heat collection efficiencies were measured for (1) stainless steel substrate collector, (2) copper substrate collector, and (3) glass pipe collector prepared as prototype collectors. (2) was higher in heat collection efficiency than (1). The efficiency of (3) hardly increased by rise in heat collection temperature due to vacuum structure and selective absorption membrane. Further measurement of such characteristics is necessary at higher temperatures. (NEDO)

Characterization of selective solar absorber under high vacuum.

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Roberto; Monti, Matteo; di Giamberardino, Francesco; Palmieri, Vittorio G

2018-05-14

Total absorption and emission coefficients of selective solar absorbers are measured under high vacuum conditions from room temperature up to stagnation temperature. The sample under investigation is illuminated under vacuum @1000W/m 2 and the sample temperature is recorded during heat up, equilibrium and cool down. During stagnation, the absorber temperature exceeds 300°C without concentration. Data analysis allows evaluating the solar absorptance and thermal emittance at different temperatures. These in turn are useful to predict evacuated solar panel performances at operating conditions.

Optimization study of a single-effect water–lithium bromide absorption refrigeration system powered by flat-plate collector in hot regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saleh, A.; Mosa, M.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A comprehensive analysis for optimizing solar absorption system in hot region. • The most important parameter to be controlled is hot source temperature. • Ensuring appropriate choice of parameters, COP of absorption unit exceeds 0.8. • Results show that solar cooling systems are promising in hot regions. • The research aims to play a vital role to promote the use of renewable energy. - Abstract: This investigation has been carried out to present a comprehensive analysis for optimizing the operation of solar absorption system in hot regions. To optimize performance of the system, the hot source temperature should be controlled in function of incident solar radiation, chilled and cooling water temperatures. With an appropriate control, these external conditions can be monitored to detect and implement the actual optimization conditions. Adopting typical values encountered in hot regions, the overall system performance takes its optimal value at temperatures between 75 and 80 °C. It was found that in designing or selecting solar collector, selective coating type is necessary to produce hot water with potential around 80–90 °C needed to optimize operation of absorption unit. By ensuring an appropriate choice of components temperatures, COP of absorption unit can exceed the value 0.8. Cooling water temperature above 40 °C reduces significantly the performance of the unit which requires, under conditions of extremely high external temperatures, dimensioning and selection of condensers and absorbers that guarantee values less than this limit

Performance characteristics of single effect lithium bromide/ water absorption chiller for small data centers

Science.gov (United States)

Mysore, Abhishek Arun Babu

A medium data center consists of servers performing operations such as file sharing, collaboration and email. There are a large number of small and medium data centers across the world which consume more energy and are less efficient when compared to large data center facilities of companies such as GOOGLE, APPLE and FACEBOOK. Such companies are making their data center facilities more environmental friendly by employing renewable energy solutions such as wind and solar to power the data center or in data center cooling. This not only reduces the carbon footprint significantly but also decreases the costs incurred over a period of time. Cooling of data center play a vital role in proper functioning of the servers. It is found that cooling consumes about 50% of the total power consumed by the data center. Traditional method of cooling includes the use of mechanical compression chillers which consume lot of power and is not desirable. In order to eliminate the use of mechanical compressor chillers renewable energy resources such as solar and wind should be employed. One such technology is solar thermal cooling by means of absorption chiller which is powered by solar energy. The absorption chiller unit can be coupled with either flat plate or evacuated tube collectors in order to achieve the required inlet temperature for the generator of the absorption chiller unit. In this study a modular data center is considered having a cooling load requirement of 23kw. The performance characteristics of a single stage Lithium Bromide/ water refrigeration is presented in this study considering the cooling load of 23kw. Performance characteristics of each of the 4 heat exchangers within the unit is discussed which helps in customizing the unit according to the users' specific needs. This analysis helps in studying the importance of different properties such as the effect of inlet temperatures of hot water for generator, inlet temperatures of cooling water for absorber and

Cooling load calculation by the radiant time series method - effect of solar radiation models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costa, Alexandre M.S. [Universidade Estadual de Maringa (UEM), PR (Brazil)], E-mail: amscosta@uem.br

2010-07-01

In this work was analyzed numerically the effect of three different models for solar radiation on the cooling load calculated by the radiant time series' method. The solar radiation models implemented were clear sky, isotropic sky and anisotropic sky. The radiant time series' method (RTS) was proposed by ASHRAE (2001) for replacing the classical methods of cooling load calculation, such as TETD/TA. The method is based on computing the effect of space thermal energy storage on the instantaneous cooling load. The computing is carried out by splitting the heat gain components in convective and radiant parts. Following the radiant part is transformed using time series, which coefficients are a function of the construction type and heat gain (solar or non-solar). The transformed result is added to the convective part, giving the instantaneous cooling load. The method was applied for investigate the influence for an example room. The location used was - 23 degree S and 51 degree W and the day was 21 of January, a typical summer day in the southern hemisphere. The room was composed of two vertical walls with windows exposed to outdoors with azimuth angles equals to west and east directions. The output of the different models of solar radiation for the two walls in terms of direct and diffuse components as well heat gains were investigated. It was verified that the clear sky exhibited the less conservative (higher values) for the direct component of solar radiation, with the opposite trend for the diffuse component. For the heat gain, the clear sky gives the higher values, three times higher for the peek hours than the other models. Both isotropic and anisotropic models predicted similar magnitude for the heat gain. The same behavior was also verified for the cooling load. The effect of room thermal inertia was decreasing the cooling load during the peak hours. On the other hand the higher thermal inertia values are the greater for the non peak hours. The effect

Solar driven air conditioning and refrigeration systems corresponding to various heating source temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, R.Z.; Xu, Z.Y.; Pan, Q.W.; Du, S.; Xia, Z.Z.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Modular silica gel–water adsorption chiller was designed and tested. • Single/double effect LiBr–water absorption chiller was operated and tested. • 1.n effect LiBr–water absorption chiller was proposed, designed and tested. • CaCl_2/AC–ammonia adsorption refrigerator was introduced and tested. • NH_3–H_2O absorption ice maker with better internal heat recovery was introduced. - Abstract: Solar driven air conditioning systems can cope with solar collectors working in a wide range of temperatures. Sorption systems, including absorption and adsorption refrigeration systems, are among the best choices for solar cooling. Five systems including modular silica gel–water adsorption chiller, single/double effect LiBr–water absorption chiller, 1.n effect LiBr–water absorption chiller, CaCl_2/AC (activated carbon)–ammonia adsorption refrigerator, and the water–ammonia absorption ice maker with better internal heat recovery were presented. The above five sorption chillers/refrigerators work under various driven temperatures and fulfill different refrigeration demands. The thermodynamic design and system development of the systems were shown. All these systems have improvements in comparison with existing systems and may offer good options for high efficient solar cooling in the near future.

Conceptual adsorption system of cooling and heating supplied by solar energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Turski Michał

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the possibility of reducing the demand for nonrenewable primary energy for buildings using a new conceptual adsorption system of cooling and heating supplied by solar energy. Moreover, the aim of this study is to shorten the payback time of investment in the standard adsorption cooling system through its integration with the heating system. Research has been carried out for an energy-efficient medium-sized single-family building with a floor area of 140 m2 and a heat load of 4.2 kW and cold load of 4.41 kW. It has been shown that the use of an adsorption system of cooling and heating supplied by solar energy decreased the demand for nonrenewable primary energy by about 66% compared to the standard building that meets the current requirements.

Parallel LC circuit model for multi-band absorption and preliminary design of radiative cooling.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Rui; Qiu, Jun; Liu, Linhua; Ding, Weiqiang; Chen, Lixue

2014-12-15

We perform a comprehensive analysis of multi-band absorption by exciting magnetic polaritons in the infrared region. According to the independent properties of the magnetic polaritons, we propose a parallel inductance and capacitance(PLC) circuit model to explain and predict the multi-band resonant absorption peaks, which is fully validated by using the multi-sized structure with identical dielectric spacing layer and the multilayer structure with the same strip width. More importantly, we present the application of the PLC circuit model to preliminarily design a radiative cooling structure realized by merging several close peaks together. This omnidirectional and polarization insensitive structure is a good candidate for radiative cooling application.

Survey and evaluation of available thermal insulation materials for use on solar heating and cooling systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1980-03-01

This is the final report of a survey and evaluation of insulation materials for use with components of solar heating and cooling systems. The survey was performed by mailing questionnaires to manufacturers of insulation materials and by conducting an extensive literature search to obtain data on relevant properties of various types of insulation materials. The study evaluated insulation materials for active and passive solar heating and cooling systems and for multifunction applications. Primary and secondary considerations for selecting insulation materials for various components of solar heating and cooling systems are presented.

Economic performance optimization of an absorption cooling system under uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gebreslassie, Berhane H.; Guillen-Gosalbez, Gonzalo; Jimenez, Laureano; Boer, Dieter

2009-01-01

Many of the strategies devised so far to address the optimization of energy systems are deterministic approaches that rely on estimated data. However, in real world applications there are many sources of uncertainty that introduce variability into the decision-making problem. Within this general context, we propose a novel approach to address the design of absorption cooling systems under uncertainty in the energy cost. As opposed to other approaches that optimize the expected performance of the system as a single objective, in our method the design task is formulated as a stochastic bi-criteria non-linear optimization problem that simultaneously accounts for the minimization of the expected total cost and the financial risk associated with the investment. The latter criterion is measured by the downside risk, which avoids the need to define binary variables thus improving the computational performance of the model. The capabilities of the proposed modeling framework and solution strategy are illustrated in a case study problem that addresses the design of a typical absorption cooling system. Numerical results demonstrate that the method presented allows to manage the risk level effectively by varying the area of the heat exchangers of the absorption cycle. Specifically, our strategy allows identifying the optimal values of the operating and design variables of the cycle that make it less sensitive to fluctuations in the energy price, thus improving its robustness in the face of uncertainty.

Thermal properties of carbon black aqueous nanofluids for solar absorption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han Dongxiao

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract In this article, carbon black nanofluids were prepared by dispersing the pretreated carbon black powder into distilled water. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were explored. The photothermal properties, optical properties, rheological behaviors, and thermal conductivities of the nanofluids were also investigated. The results showed that the nanofluids of high-volume fraction had better photothermal properties. Both carbon black powder and nanofluids had good absorption in the whole wavelength ranging from 200 to 2,500 nm. The nanofluids exhibited a shear thinning behavior. The shear viscosity increased with the increasing volume fraction and decreased with the increasing temperature at the same shear rate. The thermal conductivity of carbon black nanofluids increased with the increase of volume fraction and temperature. Carbon black nanofluids had good absorption ability of solar energy and can effectively enhance the solar absorption efficiency.

A solar absorption refrigerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurbanov, N.; Daykhanov, S.; Khandurdyev, A.

1982-01-01

An assembly is described which is designed primarily for air conditioning. This device contains a transformer heated by solar energy, a heat exchanger generator with strong and weak solution lines connected to the irrigator and absorber vessel, respectively, and an evaporator. In order to reduce the metal consumption, the absorber and the evaporator are built in the form of a single indirectly air-cooled device with vertical dry and wet channels for primary and auxillary air respectively. The absorber irrigator is manufactured in a multisectional configuration with its sections located in the upper half of the front section of each dry channel, with the lower sections of these areas manufactured as a weak solution vessel separated from the remaining sections containing the dry channels by barriers.

Dependence of the solar absorptance of selective absorber coatings on the angle of incidence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reed, K A

1977-01-01

The directional solar absorptances ..cap alpha../sub s/(theta) of samples of a number of selective absorber coatings have been determined. The spectral directional hemispherical reflectances plambda(theta;2..pi..) of each sample was measured over the wavelength range 0.3..mu.. to 2.5..mu.. at angles of incidence theta between 10/sup 0/ and 80/sup 0/. The quantity (1-plambda(theta;2..pi..)) was convoluted over an AM2 solar spectrum to obtain ..cap alpha../sub s/(theta) at each angle of incidence. The solar absorptance at near normal incidence varied from sample to sample and from coating to coating, as expected, given the present state of the art. All the absorptances show similar angular dependences, however. When normalized to unity at normal incidence, the data nearly describe a single curve, for which a power series in theta was found. For comparison, the solar absorptance was also determined for freshly prepared lamp black.

Solar air conditioning. Dresden colloquium; Solare Klimatisierung. Dresdner Kolloquium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-07-01

Subjects: R + D activities in solar air conditioning; dessicative and evaporative cooling (DEC) - systems and components; Chances of solar air conditioning in Europe; Practical experience with solar-assisted air conditioning; Performance of a solar system at Lissabon; DEC system in the Alsenblock building, Berlin; Does solar air conditioning require specially designed buildings; Performance of solar heated adsorption refrigerators; Low-capacity absacity absorption systems for solar air conditioning. [German] Die Kolloquiumsschrift beinhaltet Unterlagen ueber die abgehandelten Themen. Sie lauten: F and E-Aktivitaeten im Bereich Solare Klimatisierung; SGK(DEC-Technik) - ausgefuehrte Anlagen und deren Komponenten; Chancen der solaren Klimatisierung in Europa; Erfahrungen mit der solarunterstuetzten Klimatisierung; Energieverbrauch und Regelung von SGK-Anlagen; Betriebserfahrungen einer Solaranlage in Lissabon; Realisierung der SGK im Alsenblock Berlin; Erfordert die solare Klimatisierung besondere Gebaeude?; Betriebserfahrungen mit solar beheizten Adsorptionskaeltemaschinen; Absorptionsanlagen kleiner Leistung fuer solare Klimatisierung. (orig.)

Solar tower enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Huiqiang; Xu, Yan; Acosta-Iborra, Alberto; Santana, Domingo

2017-06-01

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants are located in desert areas where the Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) value is very high. Since water resource is scarcely available, mechanical draft cooing technology is commonly used, with power consumption of mechanical fans being approximately 2% of the total power generated. Today, there is only one solar power plant (Khi Solar One in South Africa) uses a condenser installed in a Natural Draft Cooling (NDC) tower that avoids the windage loss of water occurring in wet cooling towers. Although, Khi Solar One is a cavity receiver power tower, the receivers can be hung onto the NDC tower. This paper looks at a novel integration of a NDC tower into an external molten salt receiver of a solar power plant, which is one of a largest commercial molten salt tower in China, with 100MWe power capacity. In this configuration study, the NDC tower surrounds the concrete tower of the receiver concentrically. In this way, the receiver concrete tower is the central support of the NDC tower, which consists of cable networks that are fixed to the concrete tower and suspended at a certain height over the floor. The cable networks support the shell of the NDC tower. To perform a preliminary analysis of the behavior of this novel configuration, two cases of numerical simulation in three dimensional (3D) models have been solved using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code, ANSYS Fluent 6.3. The results show that the integration of the NDC tower into an external central receiver tower is feasible. Additionally, the total heat transfer rate is not reduced but slightly increases when the molten salt receiver is in operation because of the additional natural draft induced by the high temperature of the receiver.

Broken-cloud enhancement of solar radiation absorption

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byrne, R.N. [Science Applications International Corporation, San Diego, CA (United States); Somerville, R.C. [Univ. of California, La Jolla, CA (United States); Subasilar, B. [Curtain Univ. of Technology, Perth (Australia)

1996-04-01

Two papers recently published in Science have shown that there is more absorption of solar radiation than estimated by current atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) and that the discrepancy is associated with cloudy scenes. We have devised a simple model which explains this as an artifact of stochastic radiative transport. We first give a heuristic description, unencumbered by mathematical detail. Consider a simple case with clouds distributed at random within a single level whose upper and lower boundaries are fixed. The solar zenith angle is small to moderate; this is therefore an energetically important case. Fix the average areal liquid water content of the cloud layer, and take the statistics of the cloud distribution to be homogeneous within the layer. Furthermore, assume that all the clouds in the layer have the same liquid water content, constant throughout the cloud, and that apart from their droplet content they are identical to the surrounding clear sky. Let the clouds occupy on the average a fraction p{sub cld} of the volume of the cloudy layer, and let them have a prescribed distribution of sizes about some mean. This is not a fractal distribution, because it has a scale. Cloud shape is unimportant so long as cloud aspect ratios are not far from unity. Take the single-scattering albedo to be unity for the droplets in the clouds. All of the absorption is due to atmospheric gases, so the absorption coefficient at a point is the same for cloud and clear sky. Absorption by droplets is less than 10% effect in the numerical stochastic radiation calculations described below, so it is reasonable to neglect it at this level of idealization.

Slow hot carrier cooling in cesium lead iodide perovskites

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Qing; Ripolles, Teresa S.; Even, Jacky; Ogomi, Yuhei; Nishinaka, Koji; Izuishi, Takuya; Nakazawa, Naoki; Zhang, Yaohong; Ding, Chao; Liu, Feng; Toyoda, Taro; Yoshino, Kenji; Minemoto, Takashi; Katayama, Kenji; Hayase, Shuzi

2017-10-01

Lead halide perovskites are attracting a great deal of interest for optoelectronic applications such as solar cells, LEDs, and lasers because of their unique properties. In solar cells, heat dissipation by hot carriers results in a major energy loss channel responsible for the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit. Hot carrier solar cells offer the possibility to overcome this limit and achieve energy conversion efficiency as high as 66% by extracting hot carriers. Therefore, fundamental studies on hot carrier relaxation dynamics in lead halide perovskites are important. Here, we elucidated the hot carrier cooling dynamics in all-inorganic cesium lead iodide (CsPbI3) perovskite using transient absorption spectroscopy. We observe that the hot carrier cooling rate in CsPbI3 decreases as the fluence of the pump light increases and the cooling is as slow as a few 10 ps when the photoexcited carrier density is 7 × 1018 cm-3, which is attributed to phonon bottleneck for high photoexcited carrier densities. Our findings suggest that CsPbI3 has a potential for hot carrier solar cell applications.

Thermodynamic and economic studies of two new high efficient power-cooling cogeneration systems based on Kalina and absorption refrigeration cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rashidi, Jouan; Ifaei, Pouya; Esfahani, Iman Janghorban; Ataei, Abtin; Yoo, Chang Kyoo

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Proposing two new power and cooling cogeneration systems based on absorption chillers and Kalina cycles. • Model-based comparison through thermodynamic and economic standpoints. • Investigating sensitivity of system performance and costs to the key parameters. • Reducing total annual costs of the base system up to 8% by cogeneration. • Increasing thermal efficiency up to 4.9% despite of cooling generation. - Abstract: Two new power and cooling cogeneration systems based on Kalina cycle (KC) and absorption refrigeration cycle (AC) are proposed and studied from thermodynamic and economic viewpoints. The first proposed system, Kalina power-cooling cycle (KPCC), combines the refrigerant loop of the water-ammonia absorption chiller, consisting of an evaporator and two throttling valves with the KC. A portion of the KC mass flow enters the evaporator to generate cooling after being condensed in the KPCC system. KPCC is a flexible system adapting power and cooling cogeneration to the demand. The second proposed system, Kalina lithium bromide absorption chiller cycle (KLACC), consists of the KC and a single effect lithium bromide-water absorption chiller (AC_L_i_B_r_-_w_a_t_e_r). The KC subsystem discharges heat to the AC_L_i_B_r_-_w_a_t_e_r desorber before condensing in the condenser. The performance and economic aspects of both proposed systems are analyzed and compared with the stand alone KC. A parametric analysis is conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of efficiencies and the generated power and cooling quantities to the key operating variables. The results showed that, thermal efficiency and total annual costs decreased by 5.6% and 8% for KPCC system but increased 4.9% and 58% for KLACC system, respectively. Since the power-cooling efficiency of KLACC is 42% higher than KPCC it can be applied where the aim is cooling generation without considering economic aspects.

Effect of solar radiation on the performance of cross flow wet cooling tower in hot climate of Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Banooni, Salem; Chitsazan, Ali

2016-11-01

In some cities such as Ahvaz-Iran, the solar radiation is very high and the annual-mean-daily of the global solar radiation is about 17.33 MJ m2 d-1. Solar radiation as an external heat source seems to affect the thermal performance of the cooling towers. Usually, in modeling cooling tower, the effects of solar radiation are ignored. To investigate the effect of sunshade on the performance and modeling of the cooling tower, the experiments were conducted in two different states, cooling towers with and without sunshade. In this study, the Merkel's approach and finite difference technique are used to predict the thermal behavior of cross flow wet cooling tower without sunshade and the results are compared with the data obtained from the cooling towers with and without sunshade. Results showed that the sunshade is very efficient and it reduced the outlet water temperature, the approach and the water exergy of the cooling tower up to 1.2 °C, 15 and 1.1 %, respectively and increased the range and the efficiency of the cooling tower up to 29 and 37 %, respectively. Also, the sunshade decreased the error between the experimental data of the cooling tower with sunshade and the modeling results of the cooling tower without sunshade 1.85 % in average.

Solar cooling for small office buildings: Comparison of solar thermal and photovoltaic options for two different European climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hartmann, N. [University of Stuttgart, Institute of Energy Economics and the Rational Use of Energy (IER), Hessbruehlstr. 49a, 70565 Stuttgart (Germany); Glueck, C. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Fluid Machinery (FSM), Kaiserstr. 12, 76131 Karlsruhe (Germany); Schmidt, F.P. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Fluid Machinery (FSM), Kaiserstr. 12, 76131 Karlsruhe (Germany); Fraunhofer ISE, Heidenhofstr. 2, 79110 Freiburg (Germany)

2011-05-15

We present a comparison of solar thermal and solar electric cooling for a typical small office building exposed to two different European climates (Freiburg and Madrid). The investigation is based on load series for heating and cooling obtained previously from annual building simulations in TRNSYS. A conventional compression chiller is used as the reference system against which the solar options are evaluated with respect to primary energy savings and additional cost. A parametric study on collector and storage size is carried out for the solar thermal system to reach achieve the minimal cost per unit of primary energy saved. The simulated solar electric system consists of the reference system, equipped with a grid connected photovoltaic module, which can be varied in size. For cost comparison of the two systems, the electric grid is assumed to function as a cost-free storage. A method to include macroeconomic effects in the comparison is presented and discussed. Within the system parameters and assumptions used here, the grid coupled PV system leads to lower costs of primary energy savings than the solar thermal system at both locations. The presumed macroeconomic advantages of the solar thermal system, due to the non-usage of energy during peak demand, can be confirmed for Madrid. (author)

Cooling and quasi-static contraction of the primitive solar nebula after gas accretion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Seichiro; Nakagawa, Yoshitsugu; Nakazawa, Kiyoshi

1990-01-01

The evolution of the primitive solar nebula in the quasi-static contraction phase where the nebula cools down toward the thermal steady state is studied. The solar irradiation onto the nebula keeps the surface temperature constant, so that the convective ozone retreats from the surface as the nebula cools. Thus if thermal convection is the only source of turbulence, convection will quiet down in an early time of the cooling. Afterward, the nebula evolves toward an isothermal structure in a time scale of 1000 yr. The cooling rates in the vicinity of the midplate at 1 AU are 0.003 K/hr at T(c) = 1000 K and 3 x 10 to the -5th K/hr at T(c) = 300 K for the standard model. If some turbulence exists irrespective of convection, convection may continue for sufficiently strong turbulent heating. 39 refs

Study on Automatic Solar Heat Insulated and Cooling Device of Car

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Gui-Yue

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In view of the common device for heat insulated and cooling of car, an improved new scheme which drove by solar energy is put forward. In this study, the transmission device are arranged inside the automobile, the thin-film solar is composited into the heat insulated and cooling material. Thus, the whole device can be driven by the energy from the photovoltaic conversion, which is clear and zero-pollution. The theoretical energy consumptions and preventable gas emissions are calculated to verify the environmental savings of the device. The results show that it has promising application prospect since it is not only environmentally friendly but also save and convenient as compared to the conventional device.

ANN based optimization of a solar assisted hybrid cooling system in Turkey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ozgur, Arif; Yetik, Ozge; Arslan, Oguz [Mechanical Eng. Dept., Engineering Faculty, Dumlupinar University (Turkey)], email: maozgur@dpu.edu.tr, email: ozgeyetik@dpu.edu.tr, email: oarslan@dpu.edu.tr

2011-07-01

This study achieved optimization of a solar assisted hybrid cooling system with refrigerants such as R717, R141b, R134a and R123 using an artificial neural network (ANN) model based on average total solar radiation, ambient temperature, generator temperature, condenser temperature, intercooler temperature and fluid types. ANN is a new tool; it works rapidly and can thus be a solution for design and optimization of complex power cycles. A unique flexible ANN algorithm was introduced to evaluate the solar ejector cooling systems because of the nonlinearity of neural networks. The conclusion was that the best COPs value obtained with the ANN is 1.35 and COPc is 3.03 when the average total solar radiation, ambient temperature, generator temperature, condenser temperature, intercooler temperature and algorithm are respectively 674.72 W/m2, 17.9, 80, 15 and 13 degree celsius and LM with 14 neurons in single hidden layer, for R717.

A comprehensive, multi-objective optimization of solar-powered absorption chiller systems for air-conditioning applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirazi, Ali; Taylor, Robert A.; Morrison, Graham L.; White, Stephen D.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Multi-objective optimization of solar single/multi-effect absorption chillers was conducted. • Primary energy consumption and total annual cost were considered as the objectives. • Optimized designs of the alternative configurations were compared. • A detailed sensitivity analysis of the Pareto optimal solutions was investigated. - Abstract: Solar heating and cooling (SHC) systems are currently under rapid development and deployment due to their potential to reduce the use of fossil fuel resources and to alleviate greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector – a sector which is responsible for ∼40% of the world energy use. Absorption chiller technology (traditionally powered by natural gas in large buildings), can easily be retrofitted to run on solar energy. However, numerous non-intuitive design choices must be analyzed to achieve the best techno-economic performance of these systems. To date, there has been little research into the optimal configurations among the long list of potential solar-driven absorption chiller systems. To address this lack of knowledge, this paper presents a systematic simulation-based, multi-objective optimization of three common, commercially available lithium bromide-water absorption chillers – single-effect, double-effect and triple-effect – powered by evacuated tube collectors (ETCs), evacuated flat plate collectors (EFPCs), and concentrating parabolic trough collectors (PTCs), respectively. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that compares the optimized designs of the most promising configurations of solar-assisted absorption chillers against a common set of energy, economic, and environmental metrics from a holistic perspective. A simulation model of these three configurations is developed using TRNSYS 17. A combined energy, economic, and environmental analysis of the modeled systems is conducted to calculate the primary energy use as well as the levelized total

Experimental assessment of an absorption cooling system operating with the ammonia/lithium nitrate mixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernández-Magallanes, J.A.; Domínguez-Inzunza, L.A.; Gutiérrez-Urueta, G.; Soto, P.; Jiménez, C.; Rivera, W.

2014-01-01

This paper reports the experimental results of a single effect absorption cooling system of 3 kW of nominal cooling capacity operating with ammonia–lithium nitrate solution. The system was designed and built in the Instituto de Energías Renovables of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and can be used for food conservation or air conditioning. The absorber and generator are falling film heat exchangers. The condenser, evaporator and solution heat exchanger are compact plate heat exchangers. The heat was supplied to the generator at temperatures between 85 °C and 105 °C, while the cooling water temperatures to remove the heat produced during the condensation and absorption varied between 18 °C and 36 °C. The results showed that the system can produce up to 2.7 kW of cooling capacity at heating water temperatures of 95 °C and can achieve evaporator temperatures as low as 1 °C. The experimental coefficients of performance varied between 0.45 and 0.70. Because of the developed system do not need a rectifier and reasonable good coefficients of performance were achieved, the developed system seems to be a good alternative to be used for food conservation or air conditioning. - Highlights: • An absorption cooling system was developed using NH 3 –LiNO 3 . • The achieved COP (coefficients of performance) are the highest reported for a system using NH 3 –LiNO 3 . • Evaporator temperatures as low as 1 °C were achieved. • COP varied between 0.45 and 0.7. • The developed system seems to be a good alternative for food conservation and air conditioning

Compensation of self-absorption losses in luminescent solar concentrators by increasing luminophore concentration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krumer, Zachar; van Sark, Wilfried G.J.H.M.; Schropp, Ruud E.I.; de Mello Donegá, Celso

2017-01-01

Self-absorption in luminophores is considered a major obstacle on the way towards efficient luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). It is commonly expected that upon increasing luminophore concentration in an LSC the absorption of the luminophores increases as well and therefore self-absorption

Experimental study on solar desiccant cooling system. 2nd Report; Taiyonetsu kudo desiccant cooling system no jikkenteki kento. 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanaka, H; Funato, H [Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Fukuoka (Japan); Kuma, T [Seibu Giken Co. Ltd., Fukuoka (Japan)

1996-10-27

Study has been made about a desiccant cleaning system using solar heated water for regenerating the dehumidifier. A dehumidifier and evaporation coolers are combined to attain a synergistic effect in dehumidifying and cooling the air in the house. The simultaneous control of humidity and temperature, however, is quite difficult. Under the circumstances, an evaporation cooler was removed from the outdoor air intake side, to leave a humidifier alone for the control of humidity only. In addition, the length of the dehumidifier was reduced into half for saving fan driving power and for downscaling the model. With only one evaporation cooler in operation that is installed at the exhaust side, the cooling effect is diminished by half. For dealing with the situation, ultrasonic atomization is performed at the exhaust side evaporation cooler for the improvement of the air cooling effect for the next sensible heat exchanger (intake side). The return air is heated by the solar heater water (approximately 60{degree}C hot), regenerates the dehumidifier, and then exhausted. The atomization process elevates the cooling effect, and the resultant cooling effect was as high as that expected from a 2-cooler setup. The dehumidification effect, however, lowers a little. Exclusion of the atomization process will enhance the dehumidification effect, but will reduce the cooling effect as well. 3 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs.

Absorption of solar radiation in broken clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuev, V.E.; Titov, G.A.; Zhuravleva, T.B. [Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Tomsk (Russian Federation)

1996-04-01

It is recognized now that the plane-parallel model unsatisfactorily describes the transfer of radiation through broken clouds and that, consequently, the radiation codes of general circulation models (GCMs) must be refined. However, before any refinement in a GCM code is made, it is necessary to investigate the dependence of radiative characteristics on the effects caused by the random geometry of cloud fields. Such studies for mean fluxes of downwelling and upwelling solar radiation in the visible and near-infrared (IR) spectral range were performed by Zuev et al. In this work, we investigate the mean spectral and integrated absorption of solar radiation by broken clouds (in what follows, the term {open_quotes}mean{close_quotes} will be implied but not used, for convenience). To evaluate the potential effect of stochastic geometry, we will compare the absorption by cumulus (0.5 {le} {gamma} {le} 2) to that by equivalent stratus ({gamma} <<1) clouds; here {gamma} = H/D, H is the cloud layer thickness and D the characteristic horizontal cloud size. The equivalent stratus clouds differ from cumulus only in the aspect ratio {gamma}, all the other parameters coinciding.

Performance comparison between a solar driven rotary desiccant cooling system and conventional vapor compression system (performance study of desiccant cooling)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ge, T.S.; Ziegler, F.; Wang, R.Z.; Wang, H.

2010-01-01

Solar driven rotary desiccant cooling systems have been widely recognized as alternatives to conventional vapor compression systems for their merits of energy-saving and being eco-friendly. In the previous paper, the basic performance features of desiccant wheel have been discussed. In this paper, a solar driven two-stage rotary desiccant cooling system and a vapor compression system are simulated to provide cooling for one floor in a commercial office building in two cities with different climates: Berlin and Shanghai. The model developed in the previous paper is adopted to predict the performance of the desiccant wheel. The objectives of this paper are to evaluate and compare the thermodynamic and economic performance of the two systems and to obtain useful data for practical application. Results show that the desiccant cooling system is able to meet the cooling demand and provide comfortable supply air in both of the two regions. The required regeneration temperatures are 55 deg. C in Berlin and 85 deg. C in Shanghai. As compared to the vapor compression system, the desiccant cooling system has better supply air quality and consumes less electricity. The results of the economic analysis demonstrate that the dynamic investment payback periods are 4.7 years in Berlin and 7.2 years in Shanghai.

Experimental assessment of an absorption cooling system utilizing a falling film absorber and generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domínguez-Inzunza, L.A.; Hernández-Magallanes, J.A.; Soto, P.; Jiménez, C.; Gutiérrez-Urueta, G.; Rivera, W.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A new prototype of an absorption cooling system using NH_3/LiNO_3 was developed. • Falling films shell and tubes heat exchangers were used as absorber and generator. • Evaporator temperatures as low as 4 °C were achieved. • The COP varied between 0.27 and 0.62 depending on the system temperatures. • A flow recirculation in the absorber was implemented showing an increase in COP. - Abstract: This study presents the results of the evaluation of an ammonia/lithium nitrate absorption cooling system. The generator and the absorber are shell and tubes falling film heat exchangers while the rest of the components are compact plate heat exchangers. A parametric study was carried out in order to determine the coefficients of performance and cooling capacities at different operating conditions. Also, an analysis was carried out to determine the influence of the absorber solution recirculation on the system performance. The generator temperatures varied between 80 °C and 100 °C, while the cooling water temperatures varied from 20 °C to 34 °C. Cooling capacities up to 4.5 kW and evaporator temperatures as low as 4 °C were achieved with the system. The internal coefficients of performance varied between 0.3 and 0.62 depending on the system operating temperatures. The system also showed good stability and repeatability.

Patterning of graphite nanocones for broadband solar spectrum absorption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaoran Sun

2015-06-01

Full Text Available We experimentally demonstrate a broadband vis-NIR absorber consisting of 300-400 nm nanocone structures on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. The nanocone structures are fabricated through simple nanoparticle lithography process and analyzed with three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain methods. The measured absorption reaches an average level of above 95% over almost the entire solar spectrum and agrees well with the simulation. Our simple process offers a promising material for solar-thermal devices.

Annealed silver-islands for enhanced optical absorption in organic solar cell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Otieno, Francis, E-mail: frankotienoo@gmail.com [Material Physics Research Institute, School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050Johannesburg (South Africa); Materials for Energy Research Group, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050 Johannesburg (South Africa); Airo, Mildred [School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050 (South Africa); Ranganathan, Kamalakannan [School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050 (South Africa); DST-NRF Centre of Strong Materials and the Molecular Sciences Institute, School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, 2193 Johannesburg (South Africa); Wamwangi, Daniel [Material Physics Research Institute, School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050Johannesburg (South Africa); Materials for Energy Research Group, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050 Johannesburg (South Africa)

2016-01-01

Silver nano-islands are explored for enhancing optical absorption and photo-conversion efficiency in organic solar cells (OSCs) based on the surface plasmon resonance effect under diverse annealing conditions. Ag nano-islands have been deposited by RF magnetron sputtering at 15 W for 10 s and subsequently annealed between 100 °C–250 °C in air and Argon ambient. The optical properties of the reconstructed Ag islands demonstrate an increase and a blue shift in the absorption bands with increasing annealing temperature. This is the localized surface plasmon effect due to the Ag islands of diverse sizes, shapes and coverages. The increase in optical absorption with temperature is attributed to changes in island shape and density as collaborated by atomic force microscopy and TEM. As a proof of concept, an organic solar cell was characterized for current–voltage (I–V) measurements under dark and under solar simulated white light. Incorporation of annealed Ag islands has yielded an efficiency increment of between 4–24%. - Highlights: • RF Sputtering can be used to produce Ag NPs at low power. • Annealing enhances size, shape reconstruction as well as inter-particle separation. • Annealing in Argon ambient is more suitable than in air. • Ag NPs annealed at 250 °C enhances device absorption and PCE by up to 24%.

Optimization of a solar driven absorption refrigerator in the transient regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamed, Mouna; Fellah, Ali; Ben Brahim, Ammar

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Dynamic behavior of a solar absorption refrigerator endoreversible model. ► Using the principles of classical thermodynamics, mass and heat transfers. ► Minimizing heat exchange time to reach maximum performances. ► Major influence of the collector temperature on the model’s characteristics. ► Analogous effects of both the thermal load and the thermal conductance. -- Abstract: This contribution deals with the theoretical study in dynamic mode of an absorption refrigerator endoreversible model. The system is a cold generating station driven by solar energy. The main elements of the cycle are a refrigerated space, an absorption refrigerator and a solar collector form. A mathematical model is developed. It combines the classical thermodynamics and mass and heat transfers principles. The numerical simulation is made for different operating and conceptual conditions. A global minimizing time optimization is performed in view to reach maximum performances. Appropriate dimensionless groups are defined. The results are presented in normalized charts for general applications. The collector temperature presents major influence on the conceptual and functional characteristics compared to the stagnation temperature influence. On the other hand the thermal load in the refrigerated space and the thermal conductance of the walls has analogous effects, therefore important to be considered in actual design. As a result, the model is expected to be a useful tool for simulation, design, and optimization of solar collector based energy systems.

FDTD modeling of solar energy absorption in silicon branched nanowires.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundgren, Christin; Lopez, Rene; Redwing, Joan; Melde, Kathleen

2013-05-06

Thin film nanostructured photovoltaic cells are increasing in efficiency and decreasing the cost of solar energy. FDTD modeling of branched nanowire 'forests' are shown to have improved optical absorption in the visible and near-IR spectra over nanowire arrays alone, with a factor of 5 enhancement available at 1000 nm. Alternate BNW tree configurations are presented, achieving a maximum absorption of over 95% at 500 nm.

Metal-core/semiconductor-shell nanocones for broadband solar absorption enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Lin; Yu, Xiaoqiang; Zhu, Jia

2014-02-12

Nanostructure-based photovoltaic devices have exhibited several advantages, such as reduced reflection, extraordinary light trapping, and so forth. In particular, semiconductor nanostructures provide optical modes that have strong dependence on the size and geometry. Metallic nanostructures also attract a lot of attention because of the appealing plasmonic effect on the near-field enhancement. In this study, we propose a novel design, the metal-core/semiconductor-shell nanocones with the core radius varying in a linearly gradient style. With a thin layer of semiconductor absorber coated on a metallic cone, such a design can lead to significant and broadband absorption enhancement across the entire visible and near-infrared solar spectrum. As an example of demonstration, a layer of 16 nm thick crystalline silicon (c-Si) coated on a silver nanocone can absorb 27% of standard solar radiation across a broad spectral range of 300-1100 nm, which is equivalent to a 700 nm thick flat c-Si film. Therefore, the absorption enhancement factor approaching the Yablonovitch limit is achieved with this design. The significant absorption enhancement can be ascribed to three types of optical modes, that is, Fabry-Perot modes, plasmonic modes, and hybrid modes that combine the features of the previous two. In addition, the unique nanocone geometry enables the linearly gradient radius of the semiconductor shell, which can support multiple optical resonances, critical for the broadband absorption. Our design may find general usage as elements for the low cost, high efficiency solar conversion and water-splitting devices.

Solar Heating and Cooling of Buildings (Phase O). Volume 1: Executive Summary.

Science.gov (United States)

TRW Systems Group, Redondo Beach, CA.

The purpose of this study was to establish the technical and economic feasibility of using solar energy for the heating and cooling of buildings. Five selected building types in 14 selected cities were used to determine loads for space heating, space cooling and dehumidification, and domestic service hot water heating. Relying on existing and…

Integrated three-dimensional photonic nanostructures for achieving near-unity solar absorption and superhydrophobicity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuang, Ping; Lin, Shawn-Yu, E-mail: sylin@rpi.edu [The Future Chips Constellation and the Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180 (United States); Hsieh, Mei-Li [Department of Photonics, National Chia-Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan (China)

2015-06-07

In this paper, we proposed and realized 3D photonic nanostructures consisting of ultra-thin graded index antireflective coatings (ARCs) and woodpile photonic crystals. The use of the integrated ARC and photonic crystal structure can achieve broadband, broad-angle near unity solar absorption. The amorphous silicon based photonic nanostructure experimentally shows an average absorption of ∼95% for λ = 400–620 nm over a wide angular acceptance of θ = 0°–60°. Theoretical studies show that a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) based structure can achieve an average absorption of >95% for λ = 400–870 nm. Furthermore, the use of the slanted SiO{sub 2} nanorod ARC surface layer by glancing angle deposition exhibits Cassie-Baxter state wetting, and superhydrophobic surface is obtained with highest water contact angle θ{sub CB} ∼ 153°. These properties are fundamentally important for achieving maximum solar absorption and surface self-cleaning in thin film solar cell applications.

How to solve materials and design problems in solar heating and cooling. Energy technology review No. 77

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, D.S.; Oberoi, H.S.; Weinstein, S.D.

1982-01-01

A broad range of difficulties encountered in active and passive solar space heating systems and active solar space cooling systems is covered. The problems include design errors, installation mistakes, inadequate durability of materials, unacceptable reliability of components, and wide variations in performance and operation of different solar systems. Feedback from designers and manufacturers involved in the solar market is summarized. The designers' experiences with and criticisms of solar components are presented, followed by the manufacturers' replies to the various problems encountered. Information is presented on the performance and operation of solar heating and cooling systems so as to enable future designs to maximize performance and eliminate costly errors. (LEW)

Solar Trigeneration: a Transitory Simulation of HVAC Systems Using Different Typologies of Hybrid Panels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandro del Amo Sancho

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The high energy demand on buildings requires efficient installations and the integration of renewable energy to achieve the goal of reducing energy consumption using traditional energy sources. Usually, solar energy generation and heating loads have different profiles along a day and their maximums take place at different moments. In addition, in months in which solar production is higher, the heating demands are the minimum (hot water is consumed only domestically in summer. Cooling machines (absorption and adsorption allow using thermal energy to chill a fluid. This heat flow rate could be recovered from solar collectors or any other heat source. The aim of this study is to integrate different typologies of solar hybrid (photovoltaic and thermal collectors with cooling machines getting solar trigeneration and concluding the optimal combination for building applications. The heat recovered from the photovoltaic module is used to provide energy to these cooling machines getting a double effect: to get a better efficiency on PV modules and to cool the building. In this document the authors analyse these installations, their operating conditions, dimensions and parameters, in order to get the optimal installation in three different European cities. This work suggests that in a family house in Madrid, the optimal combination is to use CPVT with azimuthally tracking and absorption machine. In this case, the solar trigeneration system using 55 m2 of collector area saves the cooling loads and 79% of the heating load in the house round the year.

Performance of direct absorption solar collector with nanofluid mixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turkyilmazoglu, Mustafa

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Neat approximations for temperature and solar collector efficiency are presented. • The non-adiabatic and isothermal base mechanisms optimize the surface absorption. • Heat transferring material at the bottom panel enhances the thermal efficiency. • Isothermal base panel leads to maximum thermal efficiency of the solar receiver. - Abstract: The enhancement of performance by increasing the thermal efficiency of a direct absorption solar collector based on an alumina–water nanofluid is the prime target of the present research. The base panel of the collector channel is subject to either a non adiabatic or an isothermal wall condition both of which introduce two new physical parameters. Analytical solutions for the temperature field are worked out in both cases for a two dimensional steady-state model recently outlined in the literature. The desired increase in the temperature of the heat transferring nanofluid is achieved either by slightly rising the heat transfer coefficient of the bottom panel coating or by prescribing a bottom surface temperature. As a consequence of the increase in the final outlet mean temperature, the solar collector thermal efficiency is found to be enhanced via increasing the new physical parameters as compared to the traditional adiabatic wall case. For instance, 85.63% thermal efficiency of solar collector is achievable for non adiabatic bottom panel by adding suspended aluminum nanoparticles into the pure water. Even better than this, considering isothermal base panels, 100% efficiency is attained more rapidly with lesser base temperatures in the presence of higher nanoparticle volume fractions.

Cogen-absorption plants for refrigeration purposes and turbine air inlet cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Langreck, Juergen [Colibri bv (Netherlands)

2000-04-01

Most cogeneration systems produce power and heat but with absorption refrigeration plants (ARP) the products are power and 'cold'. An ARP driven by heat from a turbine exhaust can provide the cooling for the inlet air with very low consumption of electricity, consequently there is a significant increase in power output from the cogeneration unit. Two different ARP systems are currently available but the author describes only the ammonia-water system, which can achieve temperatures down to -60 degrees C. The article discusses the principle behind ARP, the capital cost and returns on investment, how the cogeneration plant is linked to the ARP, ARP for turbine inlet air cooling, and the potential applications of cogeneration-ARP.

Observation of the subgap optical absorption in polymer-fullerene blend solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goris, L.; Poruba, A.; Hod'akova, L.; Vanecek, M.; Haenen, K.; Nesladek, M.; Wagner, P.; Vanderzande, D.; Schepper, L. de; Manca, J. V.

2006-01-01

This letter reports on highly sensitive optical absorption measurements on organic donor-acceptor solar cells, using Fourier-transform photocurrent spectroscopy (FTPS). The spectra cover an unprecedented dynamic range of eight to nine orders of magnitude making it possible to detect defect and disorder related sub-band gap transitions. Direct measurements on fully encapsulated solar cells with an active layer of poly[2-methoxy-5-(3 ' ,7 ' -dimethyl-octyloxy)]-p-phenylene-vinylene: (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric-acid (1:4 weight ratio) enabled a study of the intrinsic defect generation due to UV illumination. Solar cell temperature annealing effects in poly(3-hexylthiophene):PCBM (1:2 weight ratio) cells and the induced morphological changes are related to the changes in the absorption spectrum, as determined with FTPS

Solar-energy-system performance evaluation. San Anselmo School, San Jose, California, April 1981-March 1982

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pakkala, P.A.

1982-01-01

The San Anselmo School is a one-story brick elementary school building in San Jose, California. The active solar energy system is designed to supply 70% of the space heating and 72% of the cooling load. It is equipped with 3740 square feet of evacuated tube collectors, a 2175-gallon tank for heat storage, a solar-supplied absorption chiller, and four auxiliary gas-fired absorption chillers/heaters. The measured solar fraction of 19% is far below the expected values and is attributed to severe system control and HVAC problems. Other performance data given for the year include the solar savings ratio, conventional fuel savings, system performance factor, and solar system coefficient of performance. Also tabulated are monthly performance data for the overall solar energy system, collector subsystem, space heating and cooling subsystems. Typical hourly operation data for a day are tabulated, including hourly isolation, collector array temperatures (inlet and outlet), and storage fluid temperatures. The solar energy use and percentage of losses are also graphed. (LEW)

Solar-energy system performance evaluation. San Anselmo School, San Jose, California, July 1980-March 1981

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pakkala, P.A.

1981-01-01

The San Anselmo School is a one-story, brick elementary school building located in San Jose, California. The active solar energy system is designed to supply 70% of the heating load and 72% of the cooling load. It is equipped with 3.740 square feet of evacuated tube collectors, 2175-gallon tank for storage, four auxiliary gas-fired absorption chiller/heaters, and a solar-supplied absorption chiller. The measured heating and cooling solar fractions were 9% and 19%, respectively, for an overall solar fraction of 16%, the lowered performance being attributed to severe system control problems. Performance data include the solar savings ratio, conventional fuel savings, system performance factor, and solar system coefficient of performance. Performance data are presented for the overall system and for each subsystem. System operation and solar energy utilization data are included. Also included are a description of the system, performance evaluation techniques, sensor technology, and typical performance data for a month. Weather data are also tabulated. (LEW)

Prototype solar heating and cooling systems including potable hot water

Science.gov (United States)

1978-01-01

Progress is reviewed in the development, delivery, and support of two prototype solar heating and cooling systems including potable hot water. The system consisted of the following subsystems: collector, auxiliary heating, potable hot water, storage, control, transport, and government-furnished site data acquisition.

High temperature solar heating and cooling systems for different Mediterranean climates: Dynamic simulation and economic assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calise, Francesco

2012-01-01

The paper presents a dynamic model of an innovative solar heating and cooling system (SHC) based on the coupling of Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTC) with a double-stage LiBr-H 2 O absorption chiller; auxiliary energy for both heating and cooling is supplied by a biomass-fired heater. The system layout also includes a number of additional components such as: cooling tower, pumps, heat exchangers, etc. The consumption of non-renewable energy resources is only due to the small amount of electrical energy consumed by some auxiliary device. A case study is presented, in which the SHC provides space heating and cooling and domestic hot water for a small university hall, all year long. Both the SHC system and the building were dynamically simulated in TRNSYS. In order to evaluate the performance of the investigated system in various climatic conditions, the analyses were performed for seven Mediterranean cities in Italy, Spain, Egypt, France, Greece and Turkey. The analysis was also performed for a similar SHC in which the biomass heater was replaced by a gas-fired heater, in order to evaluate the influence of biomass to the overall system economic and energetic performance. In addition, a parametric analysis was performed in order to evaluate the sensitivity of the results, when varying some of the main design and operating parameters, such as: collector field area, tank volume and set-point temperatures. The results showed that the SHC system layout investigated can be competitive for the majority of the locations analysed, although the economic profitability is higher for the hottest climates. - Highlights: → In the high temperature SHC system the auxiliary heat is provided by biomass. → The energetic performance of the system is excellent during the summer. → In the winter the system suffers of the low beam radiation incident on the PTC. → The Simple Pay Back Period is encouraging, particularly in case of public funding. → An increase of the solar field

Solar heating and cooling experiment for a school in Atlanta: performance report. [George A. Towns Elementary School

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1977-08-01

This report documents the performance, and conclusions therefrom, of a 13 month period of monitoring the performance of the experimental solar heating and cooling system installed in the George A. Towns Elementary School, Atlanta, Georgia. The solar collector system involves 10,360 ft/sup 2/ of PPG ''Baseline'' flat-plate collectors with an ALCOA selective coating, augmented by 10,800 square feet of aluminized Mylar reflectors. Three 15,000 gallon steel storage tanks, a 100-ton Arkla absorption chiller together with its cooling tower, a collector gravity drain system with a 1,600 gallon holding tank and a collector nitrogen purge system, six pumps and 26 pneumatic control valves were installed and interfaced with the pre-existing gas furnace and distribution system. In the winter heating mode, the solar energy is stored in all three tanks, total capacity of 45,000 gallons, between design temperatures of 105/sup 0/ to 140/sup 0/F. As soon as Tank 1 is brought up to 140/sup 0/F, the control valves isolate it from the collector loop, and the hot water from the collectors is used to charge Tanks 2 and then Tank 3. Water can be drawn from Tank 1 to heat the school while Tanks 2 and 3 are being charged. As a consequence of the flexibility provided by the three tanks, compared to a single tank of equivalent capacity, the thermal lag in the system is reduced. A variable speed pump, in response to sensors at the inlet and outlet of the collectors, modulates the flow of water through each collector from a maximum of .5 gpm to a minimum of .1 gpm, attempting to maintain a temperature rise of about 10/sup 0/F. In the summer cooling mode, storage tanks 2 and 3 are designed to store hot water at temperatures between 180/sup 0/ to 200/sup 0/F, and tank 1 is used to store chilled water. (WHK)

Se interlayer in CIGS absorption layer for solar cell devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Seung-Kyu; Sim, Jae-Kwan [Semiconductor Materials Process Laboratory, School of Advanced Materials Engineering, Research Center for Advanced Materials Development, Chonbuk National University, Deokjin-Dong 664-14, Jeonju 561-756 (Korea, Republic of); Kissinger, N.J. Suthan [Department of General Studies, Physics Group, Jubail University College, Royal Commission for Jubail, Jubail 10074 (Saudi Arabia); Song, Il-Seok; Kim, Jin-Soo; Baek, Byung-Joon [Semiconductor Materials Process Laboratory, School of Advanced Materials Engineering, Research Center for Advanced Materials Development, Chonbuk National University, Deokjin-Dong 664-14, Jeonju 561-756 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Cheul-Ro, E-mail: crlee7@jbnu.ac.kr [Semiconductor Materials Process Laboratory, School of Advanced Materials Engineering, Research Center for Advanced Materials Development, Chonbuk National University, Deokjin-Dong 664-14, Jeonju 561-756 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-06-05

Highlights: • Se interlayer is deposited between the CuGa and CuIn/In/Mo/STS stacked layer. • Both CIG precursor layers were selenized at 500 °C for 1 h. • SIMS depth profile shows that Ga distribution is uniform by Se interlayer. • The efficiency was improved for the CIGS solar cell by Se interlayer. - Abstract: A CIGS absorber layer with high gallium contents in the space-charge region can reduce the carrier recombination and improve the open circuit voltage V{sub oc}. Therefore, controlling Ga grading on top of CIGS thin film solar cells is the main objective of this experiment. To reduce Selenium (Se) vacancy, it is important that the diffusion of Ga elements into Se vacancy between Mo back contact and CIGS absorption layer would be controlled. In order to reduce Se vacancy and confirm Ga inter-diffusion, two CIGS solar cells were fabricated by converting CIG precursor with and without Se interlayer. The copper-indium metallic precursors were fabricated corresponding to the sequence CuIn/In/Mo/STS on stainless steel (STS) substrates by sequential direct current magnetron sputtering while Se layer was evaporated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) system to obtain a Se/CuIn/In/Mo/STS stack. CuGa precursor layer was also fabricated on the Se/CuIn/In/Mo/STS stack. Finally, both CuGa/Se/CuIn/In/Mo/STS and CuGa/CuIn/In/Mo/STS stacks were selenized at 500 °C for 1 h. It was clearly observed from the secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) that there was a change between the fabricated CIGS absorption layers and the amount of Ga elements. Furthermore, the Ga elements gradually decreased from the top to the bottom layer of the CIGS absorption layer. We also discussed the effect of Se interlayer in the CIGS absorption layer and its influence on the solar cell’s performance.

Se interlayer in CIGS absorption layer for solar cell devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung-Kyu; Sim, Jae-Kwan; Kissinger, N.J. Suthan; Song, Il-Seok; Kim, Jin-Soo; Baek, Byung-Joon; Lee, Cheul-Ro

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Se interlayer is deposited between the CuGa and CuIn/In/Mo/STS stacked layer. • Both CIG precursor layers were selenized at 500 °C for 1 h. • SIMS depth profile shows that Ga distribution is uniform by Se interlayer. • The efficiency was improved for the CIGS solar cell by Se interlayer. - Abstract: A CIGS absorber layer with high gallium contents in the space-charge region can reduce the carrier recombination and improve the open circuit voltage V oc . Therefore, controlling Ga grading on top of CIGS thin film solar cells is the main objective of this experiment. To reduce Selenium (Se) vacancy, it is important that the diffusion of Ga elements into Se vacancy between Mo back contact and CIGS absorption layer would be controlled. In order to reduce Se vacancy and confirm Ga inter-diffusion, two CIGS solar cells were fabricated by converting CIG precursor with and without Se interlayer. The copper-indium metallic precursors were fabricated corresponding to the sequence CuIn/In/Mo/STS on stainless steel (STS) substrates by sequential direct current magnetron sputtering while Se layer was evaporated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) system to obtain a Se/CuIn/In/Mo/STS stack. CuGa precursor layer was also fabricated on the Se/CuIn/In/Mo/STS stack. Finally, both CuGa/Se/CuIn/In/Mo/STS and CuGa/CuIn/In/Mo/STS stacks were selenized at 500 °C for 1 h. It was clearly observed from the secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) that there was a change between the fabricated CIGS absorption layers and the amount of Ga elements. Furthermore, the Ga elements gradually decreased from the top to the bottom layer of the CIGS absorption layer. We also discussed the effect of Se interlayer in the CIGS absorption layer and its influence on the solar cell’s performance

Management of light absorption in extraordinary optical transmission based ultra-thin-film tandem solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mashooq, Kishwar; Talukder, Muhammad Anisuzzaman

2016-01-01

Although ultra-thin-film solar cells can be attractive in reducing the cost, they suffer from low absorption as the thickness of the active layer is usually much smaller than the wavelength of incident light. Different nano-photonic techniques, including plasmonic structures, are being explored to increase the light absorption in ultra-thin-film solar cells. More than one layer of active materials with different energy bandgaps can be used in tandem to increase the light absorption as well. However, due to different amount of light absorption in different active layers, photo-generated currents in different active layers will not be the same. The current mismatch between the tandem layers makes them ineffective in increasing the efficiency. In this work, we investigate the light absorption properties of tandem solar cells with two ultra-thin active layers working as two subcells and a metal layer with periodically perforated holes in-between the two subcells. While the metal layer helps to overcome the current mismatch, the periodic holes increase the absorption of incident light by helping extraordinary optical transmission of the incident light from the top to the bottom subcell, and by coupling the incident light to plasmonic and photonic modes within ultra-thin active layers. We extensively study the effects of the geometry of holes in the intermediate metal layer on the light absorption properties of tandem solar cells with ultra-thin active layers. We also study how different metals in the intermediate layer affect the light absorption; how the geometry of holes in the intermediate layer affects the absorption when the active layer materials are changed; and how the intermediate metal layer affects the collection of photo-generated electron-hole pairs at the terminals. We find that in a solar cell with 6,6-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester top subcell and copper indium gallium selenide bottom subcell, if the periodic holes in the metal layer are square or

Management of light absorption in extraordinary optical transmission based ultra-thin-film tandem solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mashooq, Kishwar; Talukder, Muhammad Anisuzzaman, E-mail: anis@eee.buet.ac.bd [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1205 (Bangladesh)

2016-05-21

Although ultra-thin-film solar cells can be attractive in reducing the cost, they suffer from low absorption as the thickness of the active layer is usually much smaller than the wavelength of incident light. Different nano-photonic techniques, including plasmonic structures, are being explored to increase the light absorption in ultra-thin-film solar cells. More than one layer of active materials with different energy bandgaps can be used in tandem to increase the light absorption as well. However, due to different amount of light absorption in different active layers, photo-generated currents in different active layers will not be the same. The current mismatch between the tandem layers makes them ineffective in increasing the efficiency. In this work, we investigate the light absorption properties of tandem solar cells with two ultra-thin active layers working as two subcells and a metal layer with periodically perforated holes in-between the two subcells. While the metal layer helps to overcome the current mismatch, the periodic holes increase the absorption of incident light by helping extraordinary optical transmission of the incident light from the top to the bottom subcell, and by coupling the incident light to plasmonic and photonic modes within ultra-thin active layers. We extensively study the effects of the geometry of holes in the intermediate metal layer on the light absorption properties of tandem solar cells with ultra-thin active layers. We also study how different metals in the intermediate layer affect the light absorption; how the geometry of holes in the intermediate layer affects the absorption when the active layer materials are changed; and how the intermediate metal layer affects the collection of photo-generated electron-hole pairs at the terminals. We find that in a solar cell with 6,6-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester top subcell and copper indium gallium selenide bottom subcell, if the periodic holes in the metal layer are square or

Combined system of solar heating and cooling using heat pump

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakhidov, R.A.; Anarbaev, A.I.

2014-01-01

The heating and cooling systems of apartment buildings based on combined solar heat-pump equipment has been considered and the procedure of calculating its parameters has been worked out. A technical-economic analysis has been performed and compared with the boiler-setting version. (author)

Modeling of solar polygeneration plant

Science.gov (United States)

Leiva, Roberto; Escobar, Rodrigo; Cardemil, José

2017-06-01

In this work, a exergoeconomic analysis of the joint production of electricity, fresh water, cooling and process heat for a simulated concentrated solar power (CSP) based on parabolic trough collector (PTC) with thermal energy storage (TES) and backup energy system (BS), a multi-effect distillation (MED) module, a refrigeration absorption module, and process heat module is carried out. Polygeneration plant is simulated in northern Chile in Crucero with a yearly total DNI of 3,389 kWh/m2/year. The methodology includes designing and modeling a polygeneration plant and applying exergoeconomic evaluations and calculating levelized cost. Solar polygeneration plant is simulated hourly, in a typical meteorological year, for different solar multiple and hour of storage. This study reveals that the total exergy cost rate of products (sum of exergy cost rate of electricity, water, cooling and heat process) is an alternative method to optimize a solar polygeneration plant.

Simulation of an adsorption solar cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassan, H.Z.; Mohamad, A.A.; Bennacer, R.

2011-01-01

A more realistic theoretical simulation model for a tubular solar adsorption refrigerating system using activated carbon-methanol (AC/M) pair has been introduced. The mathematical model represents the heat and mass transfer inside the adsorption bed, the condenser, and the evaporator. The simulation technique takes into account the variations of ambient temperature and solar radiation along the day. Furthermore, the local pressure, and local thermal conductivity variations in space and time inside the tubular reactor are investigated as well. A C++ computer program is written to solve the proposed numerical model using the finite difference method. The developed program covers the operations of all the system components along the cycle time. The performance of the tubular reactor, the condenser, and the evaporator has been discussed. Time allocation chart and switching operations for the solar refrigeration system processes are illustrated as well. The case studied has a 1 m 2 surface area solar flat plate collector integrated with a 20 stainless steel tubes containing the AC/M pair and each tube has a 5 cm outer diameter. In addition, the condenser pressure is set to 54.2 kpa. It has been found that, the solar coefficient of performance and the specific cooling power of the system are 0.211 and 2.326 respectively. In addition, the pressure distribution inside the adsorption bed has been found nearly uniform and varying only with time. Furthermore, the AC/M thermal conductivity is shown to be constant in both space and time.

Building codes as barriers to solar heating and cooling of buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meeker, F.O. III

1978-04-01

The application of building codes to solar energy systems for heating and cooling of buildings is discussed, using as typical codes the three model building codes most widely adopted by states and localities. Some potential barriers to solar energy systems are found, federal and state programs to deal with these barriers are discussed, and alternatives are suggested. To remedy this, a federal program is needed to encourage state adoption of standards and acceptance of certification of solar systems for code approval, and to encourage revisions to codes based on model legislation prepared for the federal government by the model codes groups.

Automotive absorption air conditioner utilizing solar and motor waste heat

Science.gov (United States)

Popinski, Z. (Inventor)

1981-01-01

In combination with the ground vehicles powered by a waste heat generating electric motor, a cooling system including a generator for driving off refrigerant vapor from a strong refrigerant absorbant solution is described. A solar collector, an air-cooled condenser connected with the generator for converting the refrigerant vapor to its liquid state, an air cooled evaporator connected with the condenser for returning the liquid refrigerant to its vapor state, and an absorber is connected to the generator and to the evaporator for dissolving the refrigerant vapor in the weak refrigerant absorbant solution, for providing a strong refrigerant solution. A pump is used to establish a pressurized flow of strong refrigerant absorbant solution from the absorber through the electric motor, and to the collector.

Development of an Ionic-Liquid Absorption Heat Pump

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holcomb, Don

2011-03-29

Solar Fueled Products (SFP) is developing an innovative ionic-liquid absorption heat pump (ILAHP). The development of an ILAHP is extremely significant, as it could result in annual savings of more than 190 billion kW h of electrical energy and $19 billion. This absorption cooler uses about 75 percent less electricity than conventional cooling and heating units. The ILAHP also has significant environmental sustainability benefits, due to reduced CO2 emissions. Phase I established the feasibility and showed the economic viability of an ILAHP with these key accomplishments: • Used the breakthrough capabilities provided by ionic liquids which overcome the key difficulties of the common absorption coolers. • Showed that the theoretical thermodynamic performance of an ILAHP is similar to existing absorption-cooling systems. • Established that the half-effect absorption cycle reduces the peak generator temperature, improving collector efficiency and reducing collector area. • Component testing demonstrated that the most critical components, absorber and generator, operate well with conventional heat exchangers. • Showed the economic viability of an ILAHP. The significant energy savings, sustainability benefits, and economic viability are compelling reasons to continue the ILAHP development.

Cooling design and evaluation for photovoltaic cells within constrained space in a CPV/CSP hybrid solar system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Sheng; Shi, Junxiang; Chen, Hsiu-Hung; Schafer, Steven R.; Munir, Moiz; Stecker, Greg; Pan, Wei; Lee, Jong-Jan; Chen, Chung-Lung

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A practical cooling solution is proposed for a novel CPV/CSP hybrid solar system. • Both passive and active cooling techniques were systematically investigated. • Comprehensive experimental and numerical studies were conducted for optimal design. • Active cooling is in great need for a high waste heat flux of 21.8 W/cm 2 . • Passive cooling becomes attractive for a waste heat flux less than 13.0 W/cm 2 . - Abstract: A hybrid solar energy system has been designed by combining the advantages of concentrated solar power (CSP) technology and high performance concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cells which outperforms either single technology. Thermal management is crucial to CPV cells in this hybrid solar system, as concentrated solar radiation onto the PV cells leads to higher heat flux. If the heat is not dissipated effectively, it can cause obvious temperature rise and efficiency reduction in the cell. In addition, the constrained space available for PV cell cooling in such hybrid solar systems presents more challenges. In this study both passive cooling and active cooling techniques were systematically investigated in both numerical and experimental ways. For the passive cooling method, two different designs from off-the-shelf heat pipes with radial fins or annular fins were proposed and studied under various heat rejection requirements. Results shows that heat pipes with radial fins exhibited narrow capability of dumping the heat, while heat pipes with annular fins presented better performances under the same conditions. Numerical optimal designs of annular fin numbers and fin gaps were then carried out and experimentally validated, indicating a capability of dumping moderate waste heat (∼45 W). For active cooling technique, a comprehensive study of designing plate fin heatsinks were conducted corresponding to high Ingress Protection (IP) rated off-the-shelf fans. Results show that with a less than 2 W fan power consumption, this active

Liquid flat plate collector and pump for solar heating and cooling systems: A collection of quarterly reports

Science.gov (United States)

1978-01-01

Progress in the development, fabrication, and delivery of solar subsystems consisting of a solar operated pump, and solar collectors which can be used in solar heating and cooling, or hot water, for single family, multifamily, or commercial applications is reported.

Standard Practice for Evaluating Solar Absorptive Materials for Thermal Applications

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

2007-01-01

1.1 This practice covers a testing methodology for evaluating absorptive materials used in flat plate or concentrating collectors, with concentrating ratios not to exceed five, for solar thermal applications. This practice is not intended to be used for the evaluation of absorptive surfaces that are (1) used in direct contact with, or suspended in, a heat-transfer liquid, (that is, trickle collectors, direct absorption fluids, etc.); (2) used in evacuated collectors; or (3) used in collectors without cover plate(s). 1.2 Test methods included in this practice are property measurement tests and aging tests. Property measurement tests provide for the determination of various properties of absorptive materials, for example, absorptance, emittance, and appearance. Aging tests provide for exposure of absorptive materials to environments that may induce changes in the properties of test specimens. Measuring properties before and after an aging test provides a means of determining the effect of the exposure. 1.3 Th...

Numerical simulation of heat transfer process in solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower with radiation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Qiuhuan; Zhu, Jialing; Lu, Xinli

2017-01-01

Graphical abstract: A 3-D numerical model integrated with a discrete ordinate (DO) solar radiation model (considering solar radiation effect in the room of solar collector) was developed to investigate the influence of solar radiation intensity and ambient pressure on the efficiency and thermal characteristics of the SENDDCT. Our study shows that introducing such a radiation model can more accurately simulate the heat transfer process in the SENDDCT. Calculation results indicate that previous simulations overestimated solar energy obtained by the solar collector and underestimated the heat loss. The cooling performance is improved when the solar radiation intensity or ambient pressure is high. Air temperature and velocity increase with the increase of solar radiation intensity. But ambient pressure has inverse effects on the changes of air temperature and velocity. Under a condition that the solar load increases but the ambient pressure decreases, the increased rate of heat transferred in the heat exchanger is not obvious. Thus the performance of the SENDDCT not only depends on the solar radiation intensity but also depends on the ambient pressure. - Highlights: • A radiation model has been introduced to accurately simulate heat transfer process. • Heat transfer rate would be overestimated if the radiation model was not introduced. • The heat transfer rate is approximately proportional to solar radiation intensity. • The higher the solar radiation or ambient pressure, the better SENDDCT performance. - Abstract: Solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower (SENDDCT) is more efficient than natural draft dry cooling tower by utilizing solar radiation in arid region. A three-dimensional numerical model considering solar radiation effect was developed to investigate the influence of solar radiation intensity and ambient pressure on the efficiency and thermal characteristics of SENDDCT. The numerical simulation outcomes reveal that a model with consideration of

Diaryl-substituted norbornadienes with red-shifted absorption for molecular solar thermal energy storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Victor; Lennartson, Anders; Ratanalert, Phasin; Börjesson, Karl; Moth-Poulsen, Kasper

2014-05-25

Red-shifting the absorption of norbornadienes (NBDs), into the visible region, enables the photo-isomerization of NBDs to quadricyclanes (QCs) to be driven by sunlight. This is necessary in order to utilize the NBD-QC system for molecular solar thermal (MOST) energy storage. Reported here is a study on five diaryl-substituted norbornadienes. The introduced aryl-groups induce a significant red-shift of the UV/vis absorption spectrum of the norbornadienes, and device experiments using a solar-simulator set-up demonstrate the potential use of these compounds for MOST energy storage.

Modeling of a solar photovoltaic water pumping system under the influence of panel cooling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chinathambi Gopal

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the performance of a solar photovoltaic water pumping system was improved by maintaining the cell temperature in the range between 30°C and 40°C. Experiments have been conducted on a laboratory experimental set-up installed with 6.4 m2 solar panel (by providing air cooling either on the top surface or over the beneath surface of the panel to operate a centrifugal pump with a rated capacity of 0.5 HP. The performance characteristics of the photovoltaic panel (such as, cell temperature, photovoltaic panel output, and photovoltaic efficiency, pump performance characteristics (such as pump efficiency and discharge, and system performance characteristics are observed with reference to solar irradiation, ambient temperature and wind velocity. A thermal model has been developed to predict the variations of photovoltaic cell temperature based on the measured glass and tedlar temperatures. The influences of cell temperature and solar irradiation on the performance of the system are described. The results concluded that cooling of photovoltaic panel on beneath surface has maintained the cell temperature in the range between 30°C and 40°C and improved the overall efficiency by about 1.8% when compared to the system without panel cooling.

Experimental Analysis of Cool Traditional Solar Shading Systems for Residential Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Laura Pisello

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years there has been a growing interest in the development and thermal-energy analysis of passive solutions for reducing building cooling needs and thus improving indoor thermal comfort conditions. In this view, several studies were carried out about cool roofs and cool coatings, producing acknowledged mitigation effects on urban heat island phenomenon. The purpose of this work is to investigate the thermal-energy performance of cool louvers of shutters, usually installed in residential buildings, compared to dark color traditional shading systems. To this aim, two full-scale prototype buildings were continuously monitored under summer conditions and the role of the cool shutter in reducing the overheating of the shading system and the energy requirements for cooling was analyzed. After an in-lab optical analysis of the cool coating, showing a huge solar reflectance increase with respect to the traditional configuration, i.e., by about 75%, field monitoring results showed that the cool shutter is able to decrease the indoor air temperature up to 2 °C under free floating conditions. The corresponding energy saving was about 25%, with even much higher peaks during very hot summer conditions.

Relative spectral absorption of solar radiation by water vapor and cloud droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, R.; Ridgway, W. L.

1983-01-01

A moderate (20/cm) spectral resolution model which accounts for both the highly variable spectral transmission of solar radiation through water vapor within and above cloud, as well as the more slowly varying features of absorption and anisotropic multiple scattering by the cloud droplets, is presented. Results from this model as applied to the case of a typical 1 km thick stratus cloud in a standard atmosphere, with cloud top altitude of 2 km and overhead sun, are discussed, showing the relative importance of water vapor above the cloud, water vapor within the cloud, and cloud droplets on the spectral absorption of solar radiation.

Nanofluid optical property characterization: towards efficient direct absorption solar collectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Otanicar Todd

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Suspensions of nanoparticles (i.e., particles with diameters < 100 nm in liquids, termed nanofluids, show remarkable thermal and optical property changes from the base liquid at low particle loadings. Recent studies also indicate that selected nanofluids may improve the efficiency of direct absorption solar thermal collectors. To determine the effectiveness of nanofluids in solar applications, their ability to convert light energy to thermal energy must be known. That is, their absorption of the solar spectrum must be established. Accordingly, this study compares model predictions to spectroscopic measurements of extinction coefficients over wavelengths that are important for solar energy (0.25 to 2.5 μm. A simple addition of the base fluid and nanoparticle extinction coefficients is applied as an approximation of the effective nanofluid extinction coefficient. Comparisons with measured extinction coefficients reveal that the approximation works well with water-based nanofluids containing graphite nanoparticles but less well with metallic nanoparticles and/or oil-based fluids. For the materials used in this study, over 95% of incoming sunlight can be absorbed (in a nanofluid thickness ≥10 cm with extremely low nanoparticle volume fractions - less than 1 × 10-5, or 10 parts per million. Thus, nanofluids could be used to absorb sunlight with a negligible amount of viscosity and/or density (read: pumping power increase.

Steady state simulation of a double-effect steam absorption chiller

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahmed, M.S.A.M.S.; Gilani, S.I.U.H. [Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Tronoh, Perak (Malaysia). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2011-07-01

Absorption cooling systems have become increasingly popular in recent years from the viewpoint of energy and environment. Despite a lower coefficient of performance (COP) as compared to the vapor compression, absorption refrigeration systems are attractive for using inexpensive waste heat, solar, geothermal or biomass energy sources for which the cost of supply is negligible in many cases. In addition absorption refrigeration uses natural substances which do not contribute towards ozone depletion and global warming. Owing to the serious environmental problems and the price of the traditional energy resources, the use of industrial waste heat or renewable energy as the driving force for vapor absorption cooling systems is continuously increasing. A steady-state model is developed to predict the performance of an absorption refrigeration system using LiBr-water as working pair. Each component of the cycle is modelled based on mass and energy balances. The design point parameters are determined. The refrigeration effect, coefficient of performance and load factor are analyzed for different heat input. Simulation is carried out and the results are compared with actual data and showed good agreement.

Solar heating and hot water system installed at office building, One Solar Place, Dallas, Texas

Science.gov (United States)

1980-01-01

A solar heating on cooling system is described which is designed to provide 87 percent of the space heating needs, 100 percent of the potable hot water needs and is sized for future absorption cooling. The collection subsystem consists of 28 solargenics, series 76, flat plate collectors with a total area of 1,596 square feet. The solar loop circulates an ethylene glyco water solution through the collectors into a hot water system exchanger. The water storage subsystem consists of a heat exchanger, two 2,300 gallon concrete hot water storage tanks with built in heat exchangers and a back-up electric boiler. The domestic hot water subsystem sends hot water to the 10,200 square feet floor area office building hot water water fixtures. The building cold water system provides make up to the solar loop, the heating loop, and the hot water concrete storage tanks. The design, construction, cost analysis, operation and maintenance of the solar system are described.

A study of the cool gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud. I. Properties of the cool atomic phase - a third H i absorption survey

Science.gov (United States)

Marx-Zimmer, M.; Herbstmeier, U.; Dickey, J. M.; Zimmer, F.; Staveley-Smith, L.; Mebold, U.

2000-02-01

The cool atomic interstellar medium of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) seems to be quite different from that in the Milky Way. In a series of three papers we study the properties of the cool atomic hydrogen in the LMC (Paper I), its relation to molecular clouds using SEST-CO-observations (Paper II) and the cooling mechanism of the atomic gas based on ISO-[\\CII]-investigations (Paper III). In this paper we present the results of a third 21 cm absorption line survey toward the LMC carried out with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). 20 compact continuum sources, which are mainly in the direction of the supergiant shell LMC 4, toward the surroundings of 30 Doradus and toward the eastern steep \\HI\\ boundary, have been chosen from the 1.4 GHz snapshot continuum survey of Marx et al. We have identified 20 absorption features toward nine of the 20 sources. The properties of the cool \\HI\\ clouds are investigated and are compared for the different regions of the LMC taking the results of Dickey et al. (survey 2) into account. We find that the cool \\HI\\ gas in the LMC is either unusually abundant compared to the cool atomic phase of the Milky Way or the gas is clearly colder (\\Tc\\ ~ 30 K) than that in our Galaxy (\\Tc\\ ~ 60 K). The properties of atomic clouds toward 30 Doradus and LMC 4 suggest a higher cooling rate in these regions compared to other parts of the LMC, probably due to an enhanced pressure near the shock fronts of LMC 4 and 30 Doradus. The detected cool atomic gas toward the eastern steep \\HI\\ boundary might be the result of a high compression of gas at the leading edge. The Australia Telescope is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO.

Thermal histories of chondrules in solar nebula shocks, including the effect of molecular line cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Melissa A.

Chondrules are millimeter-sized, silicate (mostly ferromagnesian) igneous spheres found within chondritic meteorites. They are some of the oldest materials in our Solar System, having formed within a few million years of its birth. Chondrules were melted at high temperature (over 1800 K), while they were free-floating objects in the early solar nebula. Their petrology and chemistry constrain their formation, especially their thermal histories. Chondrules provide some of the most powerful constraints on conditions in the solar nebula. Models in which chondrule precursors melted by passage through solar nebula shocks are very promising, and meet most constraints on chondrule formation in broad brush. However, these models have been lacking in some of the relevant physics. Previous shock models have used incorrect approximations to the input radiation boundary condition, and the opacity of solids has been treated simply. Most important, a proper treatment of cooling due to molecular line emission has not been included. In this thesis, the shock model is significantly improved in order to determine if it remains consistent with observational constraints. The appropriate boundary condition for the input radiation and the proper method for calculation of the opacity of solids are determined, and a complete treatment of molecular line cooling due to water is included. Previous estimates of the effect of line cooling predicted chondrule cooling rates in excess of 10,000 K per hour. However, once molecular line cooling due to water was incorporated into the full shock model, it was found that line cooling has a minimal effect on the thermal histories of gas and chondrules. This behavior is attributed mostly to the thermal buffering of the gas due to hydrogen dissociation and recombination, which tends to keep the gas temperature at approximately 2000 K until the column densities of water become optically thick to line emission. Chondrule cooling rates in the range of 10

Solar heating of GaAs nanowire solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Shao-Hua; Povinelli, Michelle L

2015-11-30

We use a coupled thermal-optical approach to model the operating temperature rise in GaAs nanowire solar cells. We find that despite more highly concentrated light absorption and lower thermal conductivity, the overall temperature rise in a nanowire structure is no higher than in a planar structure. Moreover, coating the nanowires with a transparent polymer can increase the radiative cooling power by 2.2 times, lowering the operating temperature by nearly 7 K.

Nanoscale dimples for improved absorption in organic solar cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goszczak, Arkadiusz Jaroslaw; Rubahn, Horst-Günter; Madsen, Morten

Organic solar cells (OSC’s) have attracted much attention in the past years due to their potential low-cost, light-weight and mechanical flexibility. A method for improving the power conversion efficiencies of the devices is by incorporating structured electrodes in the solar cell architecture......, as they can improve light absorption in the active layers of the devices. In this direction, a cheap and large-scale compatible method for structuring the electrodes in OSC’s is by the use of Anodic Alumina Oxide (AAO) membranes. In the present work, Al films of high purity and low roughness are formed via e...

Enhancing light absorption within the carrier transport length in quantum junction solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Yulan; Hara, Yukihiro; Miller, Christopher W; Lopez, Rene

2015-09-10

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells have attracted tremendous attention because of their tunable absorption spectrum window and potentially low processing cost. Recently reported quantum junction solar cells represent a promising approach to building a rectifying photovoltaic device that employs CQD layers on each side of the p-n junction. However, the ultimate efficiency of CQD solar cells is still highly limited by their high trap state density in both p- and n-type CQDs. By modeling photonic structures to enhance the light absorption within the carrier transport length and by ensuring that the carrier generation and collection efficiencies were both augmented, our work shows that overall device current density could be improved. We utilized a two-dimensional numerical model to calculate the characteristics of patterned CQD solar cells based on a simple grating structure. Our calculation predicts a short circuit current density as high as 31  mA/cm2, a value nearly 1.5 times larger than that of the conventional flat design, showing the great potential value of patterned quantum junction solar cells.

Comparative economic performance of selected passive solar heating and cooling technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Rutter, W.

1981-05-01

The economic performance of selected passive solar heating and cooling technologies which incorporate energy storage is assessed by using a set of uniform assumptions and methodologies. Where data are available, a given system is assessed at more than one geographical location. Results are obtained in the form of both payback period and net present value for residential applications, and in terms of net present value only for industrial/commercial uses. Results indicate that ventilated trombe walls, solar roof ponds, and certain night effect/floor storage strategies are cost effective, but night effect/rock bed cooling is not. Results also show that, although direct gain out-performs trombe walls in most parts of the country, both direct gain and trombe walls usually produce a net savings in the residential sector. Generally, however, tax regulations result in net economic loss for direct gain and trombe walls used to heat industrial and commercial buildings.

Efficiently-cooled plasmonic amorphous silicon solar cells integrated with a nano-coated heat-pipe plate

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yinan; Du, Yanping; Shum, Clifford; Cai, Boyuan; Le, Nam Cao Hoai; Chen, Xi; Duck, Benjamin; Fell, Christopher; Zhu, Yonggang; Gu, Min

2016-04-01

Solar photovoltaics (PV) are emerging as a major alternative energy source. The cost of PV electricity depends on the efficiency of conversion of light to electricity. Despite of steady growth in the efficiency for several decades, little has been achieved to reduce the impact of real-world operating temperatures on this efficiency. Here we demonstrate a highly efficient cooling solution to the recently emerging high performance plasmonic solar cell technology by integrating an advanced nano-coated heat-pipe plate. This thermal cooling technology, efficient for both summer and winter time, demonstrates the heat transportation capability up to ten times higher than those of the metal plate and the conventional wickless heat-pipe plates. The reduction in temperature rise of the plasmonic solar cells operating under one sun condition can be as high as 46%, leading to an approximate 56% recovery in efficiency, which dramatically increases the energy yield of the plasmonic solar cells. This newly-developed, thermally-managed plasmonic solar cell device significantly extends the application scope of PV for highly efficient solar energy conversion.

Consumer demand analysis: solar heating and cooling of buildings. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott, J.E.

1976-09-01

This study concerns the acceptability of solar heating and cooling to homebuyers for residential applications. The study assesses the extent of homeowner awareness of solar technologies, estimates the acceptability of elevated first costs including willingness to trade higher initial costs for life cycle savings, and investigates the impact of solar aesthetics. Also explored are other areas of potential concern to homeowners in evaluating a solar alternative as well as positive motivations that would encourage purchase. Finally, the socioeconomic and attitudinal characteristics of individuals more likely to purchase a solar home rather than a conventional home were studied. The results are based on group depth interviews and personal interviews with active homeseekers, top executives of large residential development firms, and architects. The sample was split evenly between Denver, Colorado and the Philadelphia, Pa./Wilmington, Del. areas. Implications of the results for the commercialization of solar energy and possible public policy decisions are also discussed.

Research Proposal for the Design and Engineering Phase of a Solar Heating and Cooling System Experiment at the Warner Robins Public Library, Warner Robins, Georgia. Submitted to the United States Energy Research and Development Administration.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Warren H.; And Others

A number of reasons are advanced to include a solar heating and cooling experiment in a library building. The unique aspects of the experiment are to be a seasonally adjustable collector tilt and testing of a new generation of absorption air conditioners. After a brief description of the proposed experiment, the proposal contains forms filed by…

Design and simulation of a heat transformer of a directly solar-driven diffusion absorption chiller; Auslegung und Simulation von Waermeuebertragern einer direkt solarthermisch angetriebenen Diffusions-Absorptionskaeltemaschine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, Josua; Schmid, Fabian; Spindler, Klaus [Stuttgart Univ. (DE). Inst. fuer Thermodynamik und Waermetechnik (ITW)

2011-07-01

The ITW is working on a directly solar-driven diffusion absorption chiller. Solar cooling offers vast potential for saving fossil resources, e.g. owing to the good temporal agreement between insolation and cold demand for cooling of office buildings and domestic buildings. So far, the focus has been on central systems with indirect solar thermal operation. Direct solar thermal plants can be decentral. A diffusion-absorption refrigeration system without mechanical components was constructed. Solvent circulation is achieved by the thermosyphon principle, which makes the plant noiseless, wear-free, and low-maintenance. In the course of a study, a mathematical model of the heat exchangers was established on the basis of the heat transfer equations, and optimisation suggestions for the heat exchanger were identified on this basis. The influence of the pressure gradient - which is decisive -, and the influence of geometry and materials were investigated. The simulations were validated by measurements. Concrete optimisation potentials were identified, and first suggestions were implemented. [German] Am ITW wird intensiv an einer direkt solarthermisch angetriebenen Diffusions-Absorptionskaeltemaschine (DAKM) geforscht. Die solare Kuehlung bietet grosse Potentiale zur Einsparung fossiler Energietraeger. Ein Grund dafuer ist die gute zeitliche Uebereinstimmung zwischen Solarstrahlung und dem Kaeltebedarf fuer die Kuehlung von Wohngebaeuden und Bueros. Bislang standen zentrale und indirekt solarthermisch angetriebene Systeme zur Kaelteerzeugung im Fokus. Die direkt solarthermisch angetriebene Anlage kann auf Grund ihres neuen Konzepts dezentral aufgebaut und betrieben werden. Auf Grundlage des Diffusions-Absorptionskaelteprozesses wurde eine Anlage gebaut, die ohne mechanische Bauteile funktioniert. Der Loesungsmittelumlauf erfolgt durch das Thermosiphonprinzip. Dadurch ist die Anlage im Betrieb geraeuschlos, verschleissfrei und wartungsarm. Im Rahmen einer Studienarbeit

Nighttime radiative cooling potential of unglazed and PV/T solar collectors: parametric and experimental analyses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pean, Thibault Quentin; Gennari, Luca; Olesen, Bjarne W.

2015-01-01

Nighttime radiative cooling technology has been studied both by means of simulations and experiments, to evaluate its potential and to validate the existing theoretical models used to describe it. Photovoltaic/thermal panels (PV/T) and unglazed solar collectors have been chosen as case studies....... The obtained values showed a good agreement with the ones found in the literature about solar panels or other kinds of heat sinks used for radiative cooling applications. The panels provided a cooling performance per night ranging between 0.2 and 0.9 kWh/m2 of panel. The COP values (defined as the ratio....... An experimental setup has been constructed and tested during summer of 2014, at the Technical University of Denmark. The cooling performance (heat loss) has been measured simultaneously for both types of panels, installed side-by-side. The experimental results have been compared with the results from a commercial...

Cooling out of the blue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmid, W.

2006-01-01

This article takes a look at solar cooling and air-conditioning, the use of which is becoming more and more popular. The article discusses how further research and development is necessary. The main challenge for professional experts is the optimal adaptation of building, building technology and solar-driven cooling systems to meet these new requirements. Various solar cooling technologies are looked at, including the use of surplus heat for the generation of cold for cooling systems. Small-scale solar cooling systems now being tested in trials are described. Various developments in Europe are discussed, as are the future chances for solar cooling in the market

Full scale experimental study of a small natural draft dry cooling tower for concentrating solar thermal power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Xiaoxiao; Duniam, Sam; Gurgenci, Hal; Guan, Zhiqiang; Veeraragavan, Anand

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A 20 m high natural draft dry cooling tower is designed and tested. • The cooling tower model is refined and validated with the experimental data. • The performance of the cooling tower utilized in a CST power plant is investigated. • Ambient temperature effect on Rankine cycle and Brayton cycle is discussed. - Abstract: Concentrating solar thermal power system can provide low carbon, renewable energy resources in countries or regions with strong solar irradiation. For this kind of power plant which is likely to be located in the arid area, natural draft dry cooling tower is a promising choice. To develop the experimental studies on small cooling tower, a 20 m high natural draft dry cooling tower with fully instrumented measurement system was established by the Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence. The performance of this cooling tower was measured with the constant heat input of 600 kW and 840 kW and with ambient temperature ranging from 20 °C to 32 °C. The cooling tower numerical model was refined and validated with the experimental data. The model of 1 MW concentrating solar thermal supercritical CO_2 power cycle was developed and integrated with the cooling tower model. The influences of changing ambient temperature and the performance of the cooling tower on efficiency of the power system were simulated. The differences of the mechanism of the ambient temperature effect on Rankine cycle and supercritical CO_2 Brayton cycle were analysed and discussed.

Integration of Semiconducting Sulfides for Full-Spectrum Solar Energy Absorption and Efficient Charge Separation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Tao-Tao; Liu, Yan; Li, Yi; Zhao, Yuan; Wu, Liang; Jiang, Jun; Yu, Shu-Hong

2016-05-23

The full harvest of solar energy by semiconductors requires a material that simultaneously absorbs across the whole solar spectrum and collects photogenerated electrons and holes separately. The stepwise integration of three semiconducting sulfides, namely ZnS, CdS, and Cu2-x S, into a single nanocrystal, led to a unique ternary multi-node sheath ZnS-CdS-Cu2-x S heteronanorod for full-spectrum solar energy absorption. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in the nonstoichiometric copper sulfide nanostructures enables effective NIR absorption. More significantly, the construction of pn heterojunctions between Cu2-x S and CdS leads to staggered gaps, as confirmed by first-principles simulations. This band alignment causes effective electron-hole separation in the ternary system and hence enables efficient solar energy conversion. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The renewed absorption refrigerating engineering; Le groupe frigorifique a absorption, technique d`avenir?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roumajon, J. [BETM (Country unknown/Code not available)

1998-04-01

This article reviews the characteristics of a refrigerating unit based on absorption. The main advantages are: silence, no vibration, security (no pressure, no inflammable and toxic gas), and a broad range of energy sources can be used (solar, geothermal, natural gas). The main disadvantages compared to a current compression cooling machine are: low yield, important volume of equipment, high cost and great amount of heat released. An installation based on a lithium bromide-water mixture is described, the role played by the different parts of the installation is explained. (A.C.)

Nonuniform Effect of Carrier Separation Efficiency and Light Absorption in Type-II Perovskite Nanowire Solar Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weiping; He, Jialun; Cao, Yiyan; Kong, Lijing; Zheng, Xuanli; Wu, Yaping; Chen, Xiaohong; Li, Shuping; Wu, Zhiming; Kang, Junyong

2017-03-01

Coaxial structures exhibit great potential for the application of high-efficiency solar cells due to the novel mechanism of radial charge separation. Here, we intensively investigate the nonuniform effect of carrier separation efficiency (CSE) and light absorption in perovskite-based type-II coaxial nanowire solar cells (ZnO/CH3NH3PbI3). Results show that the CSE rapidly decreases along the radial direction in the shell, and the value at the outer side becomes extremely low for the thick shell. Besides, the position of the main light absorption gradually moves to the outer side with the increase of the shell thickness. As a result, the external quantum efficiency shows a positional dependence with a maximal value close to the border of the nanowire. Eventually, in our case, it is found that the maximal power conversion efficiency of the solar cells reduces from 19.5 to 17.9% under the effect of the nonuniformity of CSE and light absorption. This work provides a basis for the design of high-efficiency solar cells, especially type-II nanowire solar cells.

Prototype solar heating and combined heating and cooling systems. Quarterly report No. 6

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1978-01-06

The General Electric Company is developing eight prototype solar heating and combined heating and cooling systems. This effort includes development, manufacture, test, installation, maintenance, problem resolution, and performance evaluation.

Analysis of a solar powered absorption system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Said, S.A.M.; El-Shaarawi, M.A.I.; Siddiqui, M.U.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Conventional absorption system modified to increase COP. • Results indicated increase of 10% in COP due to dephlegmator heat recovery. • Results indicated increase of 8% in COP due to refrigerant storage unit. • Results indicated increase of 18% in COP due to combined effect of modifications. • Simulation results indicated a very good agreement with the measured results. - Abstract: Today, fossil fuel is the primary extensively used source of energy. However, its negative impact on the environment have forced the energy research continuity to seriously consider renewable sources of energy. Solar energy, in particular, has been the main focus in this regard because it is a source of clean energy and naturally available. This study presents the design and analysis of a solar powered absorption refrigeration system modified to increase its coefficient of performance (COP). The modifications include recovering of waste heat from a dephlegmator and utilization of a refrigerant storage unit. The simulation results indicate an increase of 10% in the COP of the conventional design using dephlegmator heat recovery and an increase of 8% in the COP of the conventional design due to the use of a refrigerant storage. The analysis for the combined effect of modifications indicates an increase of 18% in the COP compared to conventional design. Calculated values of coefficient of performance indicate a very good agreement with the ones obtained based on measurement

Feasibility evaluation of two solar cooling systems applied to a cuban hotel. Comparative analysis; Evaluación de factibilidad del uso dos sistemas climatización solar aplicado a un hotel cubano. Análisis comparativo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yamile Díaz Torres

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents an analysis of technical and economic feasibility of using two configurations of solar cooling in a Cuban hotel. HVAC hybrid schemes are: a cooler of ice water vapor compression (chiller interconnected in parallel with a smaller capacity chiller, first with a solar-powered absorption cooling system (SACS, and then with a photovoltaic cooling system(PSC. Both were simulated taking into account the weather conditions in the region, thermodynamic calculation methodologies and principles that govern thesetechnologies. The results show that the use of these alternatives contributes to reducing energy consumption and the environmental impact of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC. Economic analysishighlights that PCS is more favorable than the SACS taking into account the cooling cost generation (CCG but energy assessment indicates that SACS has higher thermal performance for the case study to which it isapplied.El artículo presenta un análisis de factibilidad técnica y económica de uso de dos configuraciones de climatización solar en un hotel cubano. Los esquemas de climatización híbridas son: una enfriadora de agua helada de compresión de vapor (chiller interconectada en paralelo con una enfriadora de absorción asistida con energía solar térmica (SACS, siglas en inglés, y posteriormente con un chiller asistido por un sistema solar fotovoltaico (PSC, siglas en ingles. Ambos fueron simulados teniendo en cuenta las condiciones meteorológicas de la región, metodologías de cálculo y principios termodinámicos que gobiernan estossistemas. Los resultados muestran que el uso de estas alternativas contribuye a la reducción del consumo energético y el impacto ambiental de los sistemas calefacción, ventilación y aire acondicionado (HVAC, siglas en inglés. El análisis económico resalta que PCS es más favorable que el SACS, teniendo en cuenta el costo de generación de frío (CCG, siglas en ingl

Heat transfer analysis and the effect of CuO/Water nanofluid on direct absorption concentrating solar collector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menbari, Amir; Alemrajabi, Ali Akbar; Rezaei, Amin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The effect of CuO/Water on a direct absorption parabolic collector is investigated. • The power-law is used for simulating the turbulent flow into the receiver pipe. • In this collector the solar irradiance is absorbed directly and converted to heat. • Nanofluid as the working fluid improves the thermal efficiency of the collector. - Abstract: Direct absorption solar collectors (DASCs) form a new class of collectors that directly harvest sun beams via a working fluid. They offer several advantages over their conventional surface absorption counterparts such as reduced surface heat loss and increased solar irradiance absorption. The optical and thermo-physical properties of the working fluid may be improved and system efficiency may be enhanced in direct absorption solar collectors (DASCs) by introducing nanoparticles into the base fluid. The present study investigates, both analytically and experimentally, the effects of CuO/Water nanofluid on the efficiency of a direct absorption parabolic trough collector (DAPTC). The theoretical analysis of DAPTC is based on the power-law with the objective of simulating a turbulent flow into the receiver pipe. Comparison of the results obtained from the model and the experimental measurements reveals a good agreement between the two sets of data, indicating that they can be exploited to validate the numerical solution. Moreover, modeling results indicate that the average radial temperature and energy generation terms due to the solar irradiance absorbed and scattered by the nanoparticles decrease with increasing distance from the receiver pipe wall. It is also found that the solar irradiance is absorbed and converted into a significant amount of sensible heat along the length of the receiver pipe. Finally, the results of both the numerical and the experimental investigations of the DAPTC collector show that the thermal efficiency of the system improves as a result of increased nanoparticle volume fraction

Cooling performance and energy saving of a compression-absorption refrigeration system driven by a gas engine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Z.G.; Guo, K.H. [Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou (China). Engineering School

2006-07-01

The prototype of combined vapour compression-absorption refrigeration system was set up, where a gas engine drove directly an open screw compressor in a vapour compression refrigeration chiller and waste heat from the gas engine was used to operate absorption refrigeration cycle. The experimental procedure and results showed that the combined refrigeration system was feasible. The cooling capacity of the prototype reached about 589 kW at the Chinese rated conditions of air conditioning (the inlet and outlet temperatures of chilled water are 12 and 7{sup o}C, the inlet and outlet temperatures of cooling water are 30 and 35{sup o}C, respectively). Primary energy rate (PER) and comparative primary energy saving were used to evaluate energy utilization efficiency of the combined refrigeration system. The calculated results showed that the PER of the prototype was about 1.81 and the prototype saved more than 25% of primary energy compared to a conventional electrically driven vapour compression refrigeration unit. Error analysis showed that the total error of the combined cooling system measurement was about 4.2% in this work. (author)

Solar Systems for Heating and Cooling of Buildings

OpenAIRE

Henning, Hans-Martin; Döll, Jochen

2012-01-01

Recently, the concept of net zero energy buildings has become a major topic in the R&D work on future buildings. In order to achieve a zero energy balance on annual level energy saving and energy efficiency measures have to be fully exploited. However, a demand for active heating and/or cooling will remain in most buildings and under most climatic conditions. Solar energy is the main on-site renewable energy source which can be used to achieve a high fraction of renewable energies to cover th...

Performative building envelope design correlated to solar radiation and cooling energy consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Jacky, Thiodore; Santoni

2017-11-01

Climate change as an ongoing anthropogenic environmental challenge is predominantly caused by an amplification in the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs), notably carbon dioxide (CO2) in building sector. Global CO2 emissions are emitted from HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) occupation to provide thermal comfort in building. In fact, the amount of energy used for cooling or heating building is implication of building envelope design. Building envelope acts as interface layer of heat transfer between outdoor environment and the interior of a building. It appears as wall, window, roof and external shading device. This paper examines performance of various design strategy on building envelope to limit solar radiation and reduce cooling loads in tropical climate. The design strategies are considering orientation, window to wall ratio, material properties, and external shading device. This research applied simulation method using Autodesk Ecotect to investigate simultaneously between variations of wall and window ratio, shading device composition and the implication to the amount of solar radiation, cooling energy consumption. Comparative analysis on the data will determine logical variation between opening and shading device composition and cooling energy consumption. Optimizing the building envelope design is crucial strategy for reducing CO2 emissions and long-term energy reduction in building sector. Simulation technology as feedback loop will lead to better performative building envelope.

Interim Policy Options for Commercialization of Solar Heating and Cooling Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bezdek, Roger

This interim report reviews the major incentive policy options available to accelerate market penetration of solar heating and cooling (SHAC) systems. Feasible policy options designed to overcome existing barriers to commercial acceptance and market penetration are identified and evaluated. The report is divided into seven sections, each dealing…

Surface plasmon effects in the absorption enhancements of amorphous silicon solar cells with periodical metal nanowall and nanopillar structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hung-Yu; Kuo, Yang; Liao, Cheng-Yuan; Yang, C C; Kiang, Yean-Woei

2012-01-02

The authors numerically investigate the absorption enhancement of an amorphous Si solar cell, in which a periodical one-dimensional nanowall or two-dimensional nanopillar structure of the Ag back-reflector is fabricated such that a dome-shaped grating geometry is formed after Si deposition and indium-tin-oxide coating. In this investigation, the effects of surface plasmon (SP) interaction in such a metal nanostructure are of major concern. Absorption enhancement in most of the solar spectral range of significant amorphous Si absorption (320-800 nm) is observed in a grating solar cell. In the short-wavelength range of high amorphous Si absorption, the weakly wavelength-dependent absorption enhancement is mainly caused by the broadband anti-reflection effect, which is produced through the surface nano-grating structures. In the long-wavelength range of diminishing amorphous Si absorption, the highly wavelength-sensitive absorption enhancement is mainly caused by Fabry-Perot resonance and SP interaction. The SP interaction includes the contributions of surface plasmon polariton and localized surface plasmon.

Solar powered absorption cycle heat pump using phase change materials for energy storage

Science.gov (United States)

Middleton, R. L.

1972-01-01

Solar powered heating and cooling system with possible application to residential homes is described. Operating principles of system are defined and illustration of typical energy storage and exchange system is provided.

Norwegian contribution to the IEA Annex 24 - Absorption Machines for Heating and Cooling; IEA annex 24. Absorpsjonsmaskin for oppvarming og kjoeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grandum, Svein

2000-01-01

This report summarizes the Norwegian contribution to the IEA Annex 24 - Absorption Machines for Heating and Cooling in Future Energy Systems. Thermally operated heat pumps and coolers have not been widely used in Norway. They are not economically competitive compared to compression heat pumps because of Norway's cheap hydroelectric power. If the present trend in Norway's use of electricity persists, Norway will soon be dependent on imported electric power. This calls for measures to reduce the consumption of electricity, and the role of absorption heat pumps will be of increasing importance, especially for cooling purposes. For larger commercial buildings that require climate cooling, absorption coolers based on waste heat may have a good total economy. Industrial processes that have an excess of heat at a high temperature and which need cooling, may profit from the use of this type of cooler. Information dissemination is important for efficient use of this technology. The research work done at Institute of energy technology, Kjeller, Norway, is an important contribution to this end.

Temperature of optimum generation in facilities of solar cold making use of the equation characteristic; Temperatura de generacion optima en instalaciones de frio solar haciendo uso de la ecuacion caracteristica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leucona, A.; Ventas, R.; Venegas, M. del C.; Zacarias, A.; Salgado, R.

2008-07-01

Absorption machines show a similar response as a function of the external temperatures, which can be approximated by a single functional dependence of the named characteristic temperature. This equation and the normalization curve of the solar thermal collector field driving the chiller and some more approximations allow determining the driving temperature that maximizes the cooling power at any time. This results in a simple equation. It is offered for the design of solar cooling facilities and their control algorithms. Some results are offered and discussed. (Author)

Experimental investigation on photothermal properties of nanofluids for direct absorption solar thermal energy systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Qinbo; Wang, Shuangfeng; Zeng, Shequan; Zheng, Zhaozhi

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The factors affecting the transmittance of Cu–H 2 O nanofluids were studied with UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer. • The optical properties of Cu–H 2 O nanofluids were studied through the theoretical model. • The Cu–H 2 O nanofluids can enhance the absorption ability for solar energy. - Abstract: In this article, Cu–H 2 O nanofluids were prepared through two-step method. The transmittance of nanofluids over solar spectrum (250–2500 nm) was measured by the UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer based on integrating sphere principle. The factors influencing transmittance of nanofluids, such as particle size, mass fraction and optical path were investigated. The extinction coefficients measured experimentally were compared with the theoretical calculation value. Meanwhile, the photothermal properties of nanofluids were also investigated. The experimental results show that the transmittance of Cu–H 2 O nanofluids is much less than that of deionized water, and decreases with increasing nanoparticle size, mass fraction and optical depth. The highest temperature of Cu–H 2 O nanofluids (0.1 wt.%) can increased up to 25.3% compared with deionized water. The good absorption ability of Cu–H 2 O nanofluids for solar energy indicates that it is suitable for direct absorption solar thermal energy systems

Solar thermoelectric cooling using closed loop heat exchangers with macro channels

Science.gov (United States)

Atta, Raghied M.

2017-07-01

In this paper we describe the design, analysis and experimental study of an advanced coolant air conditioning system which cools or warms airflow using thermoelectric (TE) devices powered by solar cells. Both faces of the TE devices are directly connected to closed-loop highly efficient channels plates with macro scale channels and liquid-to-air heat exchangers. The hot side of the system consists of a pump that moves a coolant through the hot face of the TE modules, a radiator that drives heat away into the air, and a fan that transfer the heat over the radiator by forced convection. The cold side of the system consists also of a pump that moves coolant through the cold face of the TE modules, a radiator that drives cold away into the air, and a fan that blows cold air off the radiator. The system was integrated with solar panels, tested and its thermal performance was assessed. The experimental results verify the possibility of heating or cooling air using TE modules with a relatively high coefficient of performance (COP). The system was able to cool a closed space of 30 m3 by 14 °C below ambient within 90 min. The maximum COP of the whole system was 0.72 when the TE modules were running at 11.2 Å and 12 V. This improvement in the system COP over the air cooled heat sink is due to the improvement of the system heat exchange by means of channels plates.

Boundary Layer of Photon Absorption Applied to Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Solar Flat Plate Reactor Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Héctor L. Otálvaro-Marín

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This study provides information to design heterogeneous photocatalytic solar reactors with flat plate geometry used in treatment of effluents and conversion of biomass to hydrogen. The concept of boundary layer of photon absorption taking into account the efficient absorption of radiant energy was introduced; this concept can be understood as the reactor thickness measured from the irradiated surface where 99% of total energy is absorbed. Its thickness and the volumetric rate of photons absorption (VRPA were used as design parameters to determine (i reactor thickness, (ii maximum absorbed radiant energy, and (iii the optimal catalyst concentration. Six different commercial brands of titanium dioxide were studied: Evonik-Degussa P-25, Aldrich, Merck, Hombikat, Fluka, and Fisher. The local volumetric rate of photon absorption (LVRPA inside the reactor was described using six-flux absorption-scattering model (SFM applied to solar radiation. The radiation field and the boundary layer thickness of photon absorption were simulated with absorption and dispersion effects of catalysts in water at different catalyst loadings. The relationship between catalyst loading and reactor thickness that maximizes the absorption of radiant energy was obtained for each catalyst by apparent optical thickness. The optimum concentration of photocatalyst Degussa P-25 was 0.2 g/l in 0.86 cm of thickness, and for photocatalyst Aldrich it was 0.3 g/l in 0.80 cm of thickness.

Influence of vapor absorption cooling on humidification-dehumidification (HDH desalination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Chiranjeevi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The desalination yield in humidification-dehumidification (HDH process is increased by proposing cooling plant integration with two stage operation. The current work is targeted on the investigation of vapor absorption refrigeration (VAR parameters on overall energy utilization factor (EUF. The dephlegmator heat is recovered internally in VAR instead of rejecting to environment. This work can be used to control the operational conditions of VAR to enhance the desalination and cooling together. The studied process parameters in VAR are strong solution concentration, separator or generator temperature, dephlegmator effectiveness, circulating water inlet temperature and evaporator temperature. Out of these five variables, lower limit of separator temperature, upper limit of dephlegmator effectiveness and lower limit of circulating water temperature are fixed in the specified range to attain the optimum strong solution concentration and optimum evaporator temperature. At the specified boundaries of three variables, the optimized strong solution concentration and evaporator temperature are 0.47 and 10 °C respectively. At this condition, the maximized cycle EUF is 0.358.

Thermoeconomic analysis of storage systems for solar heating and cooling systems: A comparison between variable-volume and fixed-volume tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buonomano, Annamaria; Calise, Francesco; Ferruzzi, Gabriele

2013-01-01

The paper investigates different control strategies for the thermal storage management in SHC (Solar Heating and Cooling) systems. The SHC system under investigation is based on a field of evacuated solar collectors coupled with a single-stage LiBr–H 2 O absorption chiller; auxiliary thermal energy is supplied by a gas-fired boiler. The SHC is also equipped with a novel thermal storage system, consisting in a variable volume storage tank. It includes three separate tanks and a number of mixers and diverters managed by novel control strategies, based on combinations of series/parallel charging and discharging approaches. The aim of this component is to vary the thermal storage capacity as a function of the combinations of solar radiation availability and user thermal/cooling energy demands. The system allows one to increase the number of active tanks when the time shift between solar energy and user demand is high. Conversely, when this time shift is low, the number of active tanks is automatically reduced. In addition, when the solar energy in excess cannot be stored in such tanks, a heat exchanger is also used in the solar loop for producing DHW (Domestic Hot Water). The analysis is carried out by means of a zero-dimensional transient simulation model, developed by using the TRNSYS software. In order to assess the operating and capital costs of the systems under analysis, an economic model is also proposed. In addition, in order to determine the set of the synthesis/design variables which maximize the system profitability, a parametric analysis was implemented. The novel variable-volume storage system, in both the proposed configurations, was also compared with a constant-volume storage system from the energy and economic points of view. The results showed that the presented storage system allows one to save up to 20% of the natural gas used by the auxiliary boiler only for very high solar fractions. In all the other cases, marginal savings are achieved by the

Solar heating and cooling system for an office building at Reedy Creek Utilities

Science.gov (United States)

1978-01-01

The solar energy system installed in a two story office building at a utilities company, which provides utility service to Walt Disney World, is described. The solar energy system application is 100 percent heating, 80 percent cooling, and 100 percent hot water. The storage medium is water with a capacity of 10,000 gallons hot and 10,000 gallons chilled water. Performance to date has equaled or exceeded design criteria.

Modification of UV absorption profile of polymer film reflectors to increase solar-weighted reflectance

Science.gov (United States)

Jorgensen, Gary; Gee, Randall C.; White, David

2017-05-02

Provided are reflective thin film constructions including a reduced number of layers, which provides for increased solar-weighted hemispherical reflectance and durability. Reflective films include those comprising an ultraviolet absorbing abrasion resistant coating over a metal layer. Also provided are ultraviolet absorbing abrasion resistant coatings and methods for optimizing the ultraviolet absorption of an abrasion resistant coating. Reflective films disclosed herein are useful for solar reflecting, solar collecting, and solar concentrating applications, such as for the generation of electrical power.

Formation of Cool and Warm Jets by Magnetic Flux Emerging from the Solar Chromosphere to Transition Region

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Liping; Peter, Hardi; He, Jiansen; Tu, Chuanyi; Wang, Linghua; Zhang, Lei; Yan, Limei

2018-01-01

In the solar atmosphere, jets are ubiquitous at various spatial-temporal scales. They are important for understanding the energy and mass transports in the solar atmosphere. According to recent observational studies, the high-speed network jets are likely to be intermittent but continual sources of mass and energy for the solar wind. Here, we conduct a 2D magnetohydrodynamics simulation to investigate the mechanism of these network jets. A combination of magnetic flux emergence and horizontal advection is used to drive the magnetic reconnection in the transition region between a strong magnetic loop and a background open flux. The simulation results show that not only a fast warm jet, much similar to the network jets, is found, but also an adjacent slow cool jet, mostly like classical spicules, is launched. Differing from the fast warm jet driven by magnetic reconnection, the slow cool jet is mainly accelerated by gradients of both thermal pressure and magnetic pressure near the outer border of the mass-concentrated region compressed by the emerging loop. These results provide a different perspective on our understanding of the formation of both the slow cool jets from the solar chromosphere and the fast warm jets from the solar transition region.

Solar assisted liquid desiccant cooling using clay based membranes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Priya S. Shanmuga

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The environmental concerns have led to the urge of the usage of non-conventional energy resources like solar, wind, thermal, geothermal etc. which provide enormous source of energy without causing any further diminution of the environment. Instead of the conventional HVAC systems that cause colossal environmental perils, usage of liquid desiccants in coming in vogue whereby reducing ecological threats. Moreover, solar assisted systems provide further impulse to such systems. This paper discusses about the various comparisons between liquid desiccants: Lithium chloride, Potassium formate and Calcium chloride and concludes that potassium formate is the best desiccant to be used among the three. Potassium formate (HCOOK is used which is cheaper and less corrosive as compared to the other aqueous salts, and has a negative crystallization temperature. Potassium formate is a new liquid desiccant and thus, not much research is available currently. The weather conditions of Manipal provide an appropriate condition for the experimentations of solar aided liquid desiccant evaporative cooling systems due to its humid climate and intense solar radiation obtained. The small scale experimentation also encounters the problem of liquid desiccant carryover by the air flow, with the help of clay based membranes which are again cheap, environmentally benign and obtained in a facile way. The projected system takes complete advantage of pure solar energy aimed at the regeneration of liquid desiccant.

Nanostructures for Enhanced Light Absorption in Solar Energy Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gustav Edman Jonsson

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The fascinating optical properties of nanostructured materials find important applications in a number of solar energy utilization schemes and devices. Nanotechnology provides methods for fabrication and use of structures and systems with size corresponding to the wavelength of visible light. This opens a wealth of possibilities to explore the new, often of resonance character, phenomena observed when the object size and the electromagnetic field periodicity (light wavelength λ match. Here we briefly review the effects and concepts of enhanced light absorption in nanostructures and illustrate them with specific examples from recent literature and from our studies. These include enhanced optical absorption of composite photocatalytically active TiO2/graphitic carbon films, systems with enhanced surface plasmon resonance, field-enhanced absorption in nanofabricated carbon structures with geometrical optical resonances and excitation of waveguiding modes in supported nanoparticle assembles. The case of Ag particles plasmon-mediated chemistry of NO on graphite surface is highlighted to illustrate the principle of plasmon-electron coupling in adsorbate systems.

Performance evaluation of the Solar Building Test Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, R. N.

1981-01-01

The general performance of the NASA Solar Building Test Facility (SBTF) and its subsystems and components over a four year operational period is discussed, and data are provided for a typical one year period. The facility consists of a 4645 sq office building modified to accept solar heated water for operation of an absorption air conditioner and a baseboard heating system. An adjoining 1176 sq solar flat plate collector field with a 114 cu tank provides the solar heated water. The solar system provided 57 percent of the energy required for heating and cooling on an annual basis. The average efficiency of the solar collectors was 26 percent over a one year period.

Evidence for Solar Cycle Influence on the Infrared Energy Budget and Radiative Cooling of the Thermosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Mlynczak, Martin G.; Martin-Torres, F. Javier; Marshall, B. Thomas; Thompson, R. Earl; Williams, Joshua; Turpin, TImothy; Kratz, D. P.; Russell, James M.; Woods, Tom; Gordley, Larry L.

2007-01-01

We present direct observational evidence for solar cycle influence on the infrared energy budget and radiative cooling of the thermosphere. By analyzing nearly five years of data from the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument, we show that the annual mean infrared power radiated by the nitric oxide (NO) molecule at 5.3 m has decreased by a factor of 2.9. This decrease is correlated (r = 0.96) with the decrease in the annual mean F10.7 solar index. Despite the sharp decrease in radiated power (which is equivalent to a decrease in the vertical integrated radiative cooling rate), the variability of the power as given in the standard deviation of the annual means remains approximately constant. A simple relationship is shown to exist between the infrared power radiated by NO and the F10.7 index, thus providing a fundamental relationship between solar activity and the thermospheric cooling rate for use in thermospheric models. The change in NO radiated power is also consistent with changes in absorbed ultraviolet radiation over the same time period.

Use of process steam in vapor absorption refrigeration system for cooling and heating applications: An exergy analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Anand

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The exponential increase in cost of conventional fuels shifts the interest toward the use of alternative as well waste energy sources for the operation of refrigeration and air-conditioning units. The present study therefore analyzes the performance of a process steam-operated vapor absorption system for cooling and heating applications using ammonia and water as working fluids based on first and second laws of thermodynamics. A mathematical model has been developed based on exergy analysis to investigate the performance of the system. The different performance parameters such as coefficient of performance (COP and exergetic efficiency of absorption system for cooling and heating applications are also calculated under different operating conditions. The results obtained show that cooling and heating COP along with second law efficiency (exergy efficiency increases with the heat source temperature at constant evaporator, condenser, and absorber temperature. Also, COP as well as exergy efficiency increases with an increase in the evaporator temperature at constant generator, condenser, and absorber temperature. The effect of ambient temperature on the exergetic efficiency for cooling and heating applications is also studied. The results obtained from the simulation studies can be used to optimize different components of the system so that the performance can be improved significantly.

Cosmic radio-noise absorption bursts caused by solar wind shocks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Osepian

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Bursts of cosmic noise absorption observed at times of sudden commencements (SC of geomagnetic storms are examined. About 300SC events in absorption for the period 1967-1990 have been considered. It is found that the response of cosmic radio-noise absorption to the passage of an interplanetary shock depends on the level of the planetary magnetic activity preceding the SC event and on the magnitude of the magnetic field perturbation associated with the SC (as measured in the equatorial magnetosphere. It is shown that for SC events observed against a quiet background (Kp<2, the effects of the SC on absorption can be seen only if the magnitude of the geomagnetic field perturbation caused by the solar wind shock exceeds a threshold value ΔBth. It is further demonstrated that the existence of this threshold value, ΔBth, deduced from experimental data, can be related to the existence of a threshold for exciting and maintaining the whistler cyclotron instability, as predicted by quasi-linear theory. SC events observed against an active background (Kp<2 are accompanied by absorption bursts for all magnetic field perturbations, however small. A quantitative description of absorption bursts associated with SC events is provided by the whistler cyclotron instability theory.

Status report on preliminary design activities for solar heating and cooling systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1978-05-01

Information presented provides status and progress on the development of solar heating and cooling systems. The major emphasis is placed on program organization, system size definition, site identification, system approaches, heat pump and equipment design, collector procurement, and other preliminary design activities as part of the contract requirements.

Study on direct-contact phase-change liquid immersion cooling dense-array solar cells under high concentration ratios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Xue; Wang, Yiping; Huang, Qunwu; Cui, Yong; Shi, Xusheng; Sun, Yong

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Direct-contact phase-change liquid immersion cooling for solar cells was proposed. • A self-regulating system investigated the feasibility in temperature control. • Temperature was well controlled between 87.3 °C and 88.5 °C. • Surface heat transfer coefficient was up to 23.49 kW/(m"2·K) under 398.4×. • A model illustrated the interface function was the main reason to affect light. - Abstract: A new cooling method by directly immersing the solar cells into phase-change liquid was put forward to cool dense-array solar cells in high concentrating photovoltaic system. A self-running system was built to study the feasibility of temperature control and the effect of bubbles generated by ethanol phase change under concentration ratio ranged between 219.8× and 398.4×. The results show that the cooling system is self-regulating without consuming extra energy and ethanol flow rate reaches up to 180.6 kg/(s·m"2) under 398.4×. The temperature of solar cells distributes in the range between 87.3 °C and 88.5 °C, the surface heat transfer coefficient of electric heating plate is up to 23.49 kW/(m"2·K) under 398.4×. The bubble effect on electrical performance of triple-junction solar cells is reported and the results show that I_s_c and P_m_a_x decline 10.2% and 7.3%, respectively. A model based on bubble images illustrates that light loss at the interface between ethanol and bubble is the main reason to cut down the electrical performance.

Solar-Enhanced Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers for Geothermal Power Plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamel Hooman

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the optimization of a Solar-Enhanced Natural-Draft Dry-Cooling Tower (SENDDCT, originally designed by the Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence (QGECE, as the air-cooled condenser of a geothermal power plant. The conventional method of heat transfer augmentation through fin-assisted area extension is compared with a metal foam-wrapped tube bundle. Both lead to heat-transfer enhancement, albeit at the expense of a higher pressure drop when compared to the bare tube bundle as our reference case. An optimal design is obtained through the use of a simplified analytical model and existing correlations by maximizing the heat transfer rate with a minimum pressure drop goal as the constraint. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of sunroof diameter, as well as tube bundle layouts and tube spacing, on the overall performance of the system. Aiming to minimize the flow and thermal resistances for a SENDDCT, an optimum design is presented for an existing tower to be equipped with solar panels to afterheat the air leaving the heat exchanger bundles, which are arranged vertically around the tower skirt. Finally, correlations are proposed to predict the total pressure drop and heat transfer of the extended surfaces considered here.

Increasing utilisation of district heating through absorption cooling technology; Oekat fjaerrvaermeutnyttjande med hjaelp av absorptionstekniken

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bjurstroem, Henrik; Ingvarsson, Paul; Zinko, Heimo

2010-10-15

The purpose of the research project presented in this report was to find ways to return a lower temperature from the generator of the chillers in a supply/return connection. The initial target is 40 deg C. Ideally, the absorption chiller and possible ulterior uses of the remaining heat in the heat carrier (the water flowing through the generator) should be as close as possible to a pure heat load. The hot-water driven absorption chillers used today to produce cooling in DH networks are exclusively so-called single-effect (Sweden) chillers with water and lithium bromide as working pair. This study aims at raising as much as possible the upper bounds on the absorption chiller capacity that may be connected to a DH network, by lowering the temperature at the outlet. To this end, several approaches have been used: - A search for alternative designs of the absorption chiller, focusing on commercially available and tested technology, both those yielding a large temperature decrease over the generator and those that may be operated at lower temperatures than the conventional solutions; - An examination of the impact of further uses of the remaining heat on temperature in the return line. larger. Smaller units are considered only if they can be used to illustrate a principle. As a complement to this investigation, a few other issues have been treated: - What temperature levels should a system actually be designed for? - The LAVA method to calculate the impact of supply and return temperatures in the DH network on the economics of power production is presented; - Interesting technical solutions using desiccant-aided evaporative cooling are shortly described; - The modern developments in the field of working pairs (refrigerant and absorbent) are reviewed. Assumptions made here are that there is a significant demand for cooling, and that the demand is large enough to justify operating the cogeneration plant at a load level exceeding its lowest acceptable part load rather than

Absorption heat pump for a potable water supply in a solar house

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elshamarka, S [Military Technical Coll., Cairo (EG)

1991-01-01

Solar houses usually have good potential in arid areas. These areas often suffer from not only a shortage of conventional energy sources, but also of potable water supplies. In this study, a solar air-conditioning system including an absorption heat pump, already in production since the early 1980s, is described for potable water production while performing its air-conditioning duty in a solar house. Compiled weather-conditions of the Hurgada area, on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, were employed for the prediction of the system's productivity, if it were installed in such a locality. An evaluation of the system's feasibility has been conducted. (author).

The influence of local electric fields on photoinduced absorption in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Cappel, Ute B; Feldt, Sandra M; Schöneboom, Jan; Hagfeldt, Anders; Boschloo, Gerrit

2010-07-07

The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) challenges conventional photovoltaics with its potential for low-cost production and its flexibility in terms of color and design. Transient absorption spectroscopy is widely used to unravel the working mechanism of DSCs. A surprising, unexplained feature observed in these studies is an apparent bleach of the ground-state absorption of the dye, under conditions where the dye is in the ground state. Here, we demonstrate that this feature can be attributed to a change of the local electric field affecting the absorption spectrum of the dye, an effect related to the Stark effect first reported in 1913. We present a method for measuring the effect of an externally applied electric field on the absorption of dye monolayers adsorbed on flat TiO(2) substrates. The measured signal has the shape of the first derivative of the absorption spectra of the dyes and reverses sign along with the reversion of the direction of the change in dipole moment upon excitation relative to the TiO(2) surface. A very similar signal is observed in photoinduced absorption spectra of dye-sensitized TiO(2) electrodes under solar cell conditions, demonstrating that the electric field across the dye molecules changes upon illumination. This result has important implications for the analysis of transient absorption spectra of DSCs and other molecular optoelectronic devices and challenges the interpretation of many previously published results.

Solar hot water systems application to the solar building test facility and the Tech House

Science.gov (United States)

Goble, R. L.; Jensen, R. N.; Basford, R. C.

1976-01-01

Projects which relate to the current national thrust toward demonstrating applied solar energy are discussed. The first project has as its primary objective the application of a system comprised of a flat plate collector field, an absorption air conditioning system, and a hot water heating system to satisfy most of the annual cooling and heating requirements of a large commercial office building. The other project addresses the application of solar collector technology to the heating and hot water requirements of a domestic residence. In this case, however, the solar system represents only one of several important technology items, the primary objective for the project being the application of space technology to the American home.

Enhanced light absorption of silicon solar cells with dielectric nanostructured back reflector

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Rui; Zhong, Zheng

2018-06-01

This paper investigates the light absorption property of nanostructured dielectric reflectors in silicon thin film solar cells using numerical simulation. Flat thin film solar cell with ZnO nanostructured back reflector can produce comparable photocurrent to the control model with Ag nanostructured back reflector. Furthermore, when it is integrated with nano-pillar surface decoration, a photocurrent density of 29.5 mA/cm2 can be achieved, demonstrating a photocurrent enhancement of 5% as compared to the model with Ag nanostructured back reflector.

Nanofluid optical property characterization: towards efficient direct absorption solar collectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Robert A; Phelan, Patrick E; Otanicar, Todd P; Adrian, Ronald; Prasher, Ravi

2011-03-15

Suspensions of nanoparticles (i.e., particles with diameters solar thermal collectors. To determine the effectiveness of nanofluids in solar applications, their ability to convert light energy to thermal energy must be known. That is, their absorption of the solar spectrum must be established. Accordingly, this study compares model predictions to spectroscopic measurements of extinction coefficients over wavelengths that are important for solar energy (0.25 to 2.5 μm). A simple addition of the base fluid and nanoparticle extinction coefficients is applied as an approximation of the effective nanofluid extinction coefficient. Comparisons with measured extinction coefficients reveal that the approximation works well with water-based nanofluids containing graphite nanoparticles but less well with metallic nanoparticles and/or oil-based fluids. For the materials used in this study, over 95% of incoming sunlight can be absorbed (in a nanofluid thickness ≥10 cm) with extremely low nanoparticle volume fractions - less than 1 × 10-5, or 10 parts per million. Thus, nanofluids could be used to absorb sunlight with a negligible amount of viscosity and/or density (read: pumping power) increase.

Singular Strategic Project on bio climatic architecture and solar cooling (PSE-ARFRISOL); Proyecto Singular Estrategico sobre arquitectura bioclimatica y frio solar (PSE-ARFRISOL)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heras Celemin, M. R.

2008-07-01

The R and D activities for the scientific-technological singular strategic Project on Bio climatic Architecture and Solar Cooling PSE-ARFRISOL are being carried out from November 2005 to December 2010. This project aims to demonstrate that bio climatic architecture and low-temperature solar energy are the appropriate basic elements for climatization of future buildings. (Author) 12 refs.

Solar heating and cooling of residential buildings: design of systems, 1980 edition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-09-01

This manual was prepared primarily for use in conducting a practical training course on the design of solar heating and cooling systems for residential and small office buildings, but may also be useful as a general reference text. The content level is appropriate for persons with different and varied backgrounds, although it is assumed that readers possess a basic understanding of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems of conventional (non-solar) types. This edition is a revision of the manual with the same title, first printed and distributed by the US Government Printing Office in October 1977. The manual has been reorganized, new material has been added, and outdated information has been deleted. Only active solar systems are described. Liquid and air-heating solar systems for combined space and service water heating or service water heating are included. Furthermore, only systems with proven experience are discussed to any extent.

Increasing Solar Absorption for Photocatalysis with Black Hydrogenated Titanium Dioxide Nanocrystals

KAUST Repository

Chen, X.

2011-01-20

When used as a photocatalyst, titanium dioxide (TiO 2) absorbs only ultraviolet light, and several approaches, including the use of dopants such as nitrogen, have been taken to narrow the band gap of TiO 2. We demonstrated a conceptually different approach to enhancing solar absorption by introducing disorder in the surface layers of nanophase TiO 2 through hydrogenation. We showed that disorder-engineered TiO 2 nanocrystals exhibit substantial solar-driven photocatalytic activities, including the photo-oxidation of organic molecules in water and the production of hydrogen with the use of a sacrificial reagent.

Increasing Solar Absorption for Photocatalysis with Black Hydrogenated Titanium Dioxide Nanocrystals

KAUST Repository

Chen, X.; Liu, L.; Yu, P. Y.; Mao, S. S.

2011-01-01

When used as a photocatalyst, titanium dioxide (TiO 2) absorbs only ultraviolet light, and several approaches, including the use of dopants such as nitrogen, have been taken to narrow the band gap of TiO 2. We demonstrated a conceptually different approach to enhancing solar absorption by introducing disorder in the surface layers of nanophase TiO 2 through hydrogenation. We showed that disorder-engineered TiO 2 nanocrystals exhibit substantial solar-driven photocatalytic activities, including the photo-oxidation of organic molecules in water and the production of hydrogen with the use of a sacrificial reagent.

Solar Heating/Cooling of Buildings: Current Building Community Projects. An Interim Report.

Science.gov (United States)

National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council, Washington, DC. Building Research Advisory Board.

Projects being carried out by the private sector involving the use of solar energy for heating and cooling buildings are profiled in this report. A substantial portion of the data were collected from a broad cross-section of the building community. Data collection efforts also involved the canvassing of the nearly 200 trade and professional…

Characterization of Nanocrystalline SiGe Thin Film Solar Cell with Double Graded-Dead Absorption Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao-Chun Wang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The nanocrystalline silicon-germanium (nc-SiGe thin films were deposited by high-frequency (27.12 MHz plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (HF-PECVD. The films were used in a silicon-based thin film solar cell with graded-dead absorption layer. The characterization of the nc-SiGe films are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy. The band gap of SiGe alloy can be adjusted between 0.8 and 1.7 eV by varying the gas ratio. For thin film solar cell application, using double graded-dead i-SiGe layers mainly leads to an increase in short-circuit current and therefore cell conversion efficiency. An initial conversion efficiency of 5.06% and the stabilized efficiency of 4.63% for an nc-SiGe solar cell were achieved.

Broadband absorption enhancement in amorphous Si solar cells using metal gratings and surface texturing

Science.gov (United States)

Magdi, Sara; Swillam, Mohamed A.

2017-02-01

The efficiencies of thin film amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cells are restricted by the small thickness required for efficient carrier collection. This thickness limitations result in poor light absorption. In this work, broadband absorption enhancement is theoretically achieved in a-Si solar cells by using nanostructured back electrode along with surface texturing. The back electrode is formed of Au nanogratings and the surface texturing consists of Si nanocones. The results were then compared to random texturing surfaces. Three dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations are used to design and optimize the structure. The Au nanogratings achieved absorption enhancement in the long wavelengths due to sunlight coupling to surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) modes. High absorption enhancement was achieved at short wavelengths due to the decreased reflection and enhanced scattering inside the a-Si absorbing layer. Optimizations have been performed to obtain the optimal geometrical parameters for both the nanogratings and the periodic texturing. In addition, an enhancement factor (i.e. absorbed power in nanostructured device/absorbed power in reference device) was calculated to evaluate the enhancement obtained due to the incorporation of each nanostructure.

Numerical study on the effects of absorptivity on performance of flat plate solar collector of a water heater

Science.gov (United States)

Tambunan, D. R. S.; Sibagariang, Y. P.; Ambarita, H.; Napitupulu, F. H.; Kawai, H.

2018-03-01

The characteristics of absorber plate of a flat plate solar collector play an important role in the improvement of the performance. In this work, a numerical analysis is carried out to explore the effect of absorptivity and emissivity of absorber plate to the performance of the solar collector of a solar water heater. For a results comparison, a simple a simple solar box cooker with absorber area of 0.835 m × 0.835 m is designed and fabricated. It is employed to heat water in a container by exposing to the solar radiation in Medan city of Indonesia. The transient governing equations are developed. The governing equations are discretized and solved using the forward time step marching technique. The results reveal that the experimental and numerical results show good agreement. The absorptivity of the plate absorber and emissivity of the glass cover strongly affect the performance of the solar collector.

Biomimetic spiral grating for stable and highly efficient absorption in crystalline silicon thin-film solar cells

KAUST Repository

Hou, Jin; Hong, Wei; Li, Xiaohang; Yang, Chunyong; Chen, Shaoping

2017-01-01

By emulating the phyllotaxis structure of natural plants, which has an efficient and stable light capture capability, a two-dimensional spiral grating is introduced on the surface of crystalline silicon solar cells to obtain both efficient and stable light absorption. Using the rigorous coupled wave analysis method, the absorption performance on structural parameter variations of spiral gratings is investigated firstly. Owing to diffraction resonance and excellent superficies antireflection, the integrated absorption of the optimal spiral grating cell is raised by about 77 percent compared with the conventional slab cell. Moreover, though a 15 percent deviation of structural parameters from the optimal spiral grating is applied, only a 5 percent decrease of the absorption is observed. This reveals that the performance of the proposed grating would tolerate large structural variations. Furthermore, the angular and polarization dependence on the absorption of the optimized cell is studied. For average polarizations, a small decrease of only 11 percent from the maximum absorption is observed within an incident angle ranging from −70 to 70 degrees. The results show promising application potentials of the biomimetic spiral grating in the solar cell.

Biomimetic spiral grating for stable and highly efficient absorption in crystalline silicon thin-film solar cells

KAUST Repository

Hou, Jin

2017-09-12

By emulating the phyllotaxis structure of natural plants, which has an efficient and stable light capture capability, a two-dimensional spiral grating is introduced on the surface of crystalline silicon solar cells to obtain both efficient and stable light absorption. Using the rigorous coupled wave analysis method, the absorption performance on structural parameter variations of spiral gratings is investigated firstly. Owing to diffraction resonance and excellent superficies antireflection, the integrated absorption of the optimal spiral grating cell is raised by about 77 percent compared with the conventional slab cell. Moreover, though a 15 percent deviation of structural parameters from the optimal spiral grating is applied, only a 5 percent decrease of the absorption is observed. This reveals that the performance of the proposed grating would tolerate large structural variations. Furthermore, the angular and polarization dependence on the absorption of the optimized cell is studied. For average polarizations, a small decrease of only 11 percent from the maximum absorption is observed within an incident angle ranging from −70 to 70 degrees. The results show promising application potentials of the biomimetic spiral grating in the solar cell.

ABSORPTIONS IN THE VISIBLE OF PROTONATED PYRENE COLLISIONALLY COOLED TO 15 K

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hardy, F.-X.; Gause, O.; Rice, C. A.; Maier, J. P., E-mail: j.p.maier@unibas.ch [Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, Klingelbergstr. 80, 4056-CH Basel (Switzerland)

2013-12-01

Protonated polycyclic hydrocarbons have been added to the list of suggested carriers of diffuse interstellar absorptions. To test this proposition requires laboratory spectra measured under interstellar conditions, in particular with the rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom equilibrated to low temperatures. This has been achieved for protonated pyrene with absorption bands in the visible, using an ion trap and collisional cooling to ≈15 K. A two-photon excitation-dissociation scheme was employed to record the (1) {sup 1} A' ← X {sup 1} A' electronic spectrum on around 10{sup 5} ions per duty cycle. The origin band of the absorption spectrum of this relatively large polycyclic aromatic species with 27 atoms is located at 4858.86 Å. Two further comparably intense spectral features are present at 4834.48 and 4809.32 Å. This is one of the largest protonated aromatics studied in the gas phase and compared to astronomical observations; however, it is not a carrier of known diffuse interstellar bands.

Design principle for absorption enhancement with nanoparticles in thin-film silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Yuanpei; Xuan, Yimin

2015-01-01

The use of nanoparticles in solar cells has created many controversies. In this paper, different mechanisms of nanoparticles with different materials with diameters varying from 50 to 200 nm, surface coverage at 5, 20, and 60 %, and different locations are analyzed systematically for efficient light trapping in a thin-film c-Si solar cell. Mie theory and the finite difference time domain method are used for analysis to give a design principle with nanoparticles for the solar cell application. Metals exhibit plasmonic resonances and angular scattering, while dielectrics show anti-reflection and scattering in the incident direction. A table is given to summarize the advantages and disadvantages in different conditions. The silicon absorption enhancement with nanoparticles on top is mainly in the shorter wavelengths below 700 nm, and both Al and SiO 2 nanoparticles with diameter around 100 nm show the most significant enhancement. The silicon absorption enhancement with embedded nanoparticles takes place in the longer wavelengths over 700 nm, and Ag and SiO 2 nanoparticles with larger diameter around 200 nm perform better. However, the light absorbed by Ag nanoparticles will be converted to heat and will lead to decrease in cell efficiency; hence, the choice of metallic nanoparticles in applications to solar cells should be carefully considered. The design principle proposed in this work gives a guideline by choosing reasonable parameters for the different requirements in the application of thin-film solar cells

Measurement of atmospheric precipitable water using a solar radiometer. [water vapor absorption effects

Science.gov (United States)

Pitts, D. E.; Dillinger, A. E.; Mcallum, W. E.

1974-01-01

A technique is described and tested that allows the determination of atmospheric precipitable water from two measurements of solar intensity: one in a water-vapor absorption band and another in a nearby spectral region unaffected by water vapor.

A parameterization for the absorption of solar radiation by water vapor in the earth's atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, W.-C.

1976-01-01

A parameterization for the absorption of solar radiation as a function of the amount of water vapor in the earth's atmosphere is obtained. Absorption computations are based on the Goody band model and the near-infrared absorption band data of Ludwig et al. A two-parameter Curtis-Godson approximation is used to treat the inhomogeneous atmosphere. Heating rates based on a frequently used one-parameter pressure-scaling approximation are also discussed and compared with the present parameterization.

Nanoscale Dimples for Improved Absorption in and Efficiency of Organic Solar Cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goszczak, Arkadiusz Jaroslaw; Adam, Jost; Cielecki, Pawel Piotr

Organic solar cells (OSC’s) have attracted much attention in the past years due to their low costs, light weight and mechanical flexibility. A promising method for improving the power conversion efficiencies of the devices is by incorporating structured electrodes in the solar cell architecture....... That way light absorption in the active layers of the devices can be improved. A cheap and large-scale production compatible method for structuring the electrodes in OSC’s is by the use of Anodic Alumina Oxide (AAO) membranes. Here, nano-scale pores of controlled dimensions are formed through anodic...

Theoretical and experimental studies on the daily accumulative heat gain from cool roofs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin, Yinghong; Zhang, Mingyi; Hiller, Jacob E.

2017-01-01

Cool roofs are gaining popularity as passive building cooling techniques, but the correlation between energy savings and rooftop albedo has not been understood completely. Here we theoretically model the daily accumulative inward heat (DAIH) from building roofs with different albedo values, correlating the heat gain of the building roof to both the rooftop albedo and the incident solar radiation. According to this model, the DAIH increases linearly with the daily zenith solar radiation, but decreases linearly with the rooftop albedo. A small building cell was constructed to monitor the heat gain of the building under the conditions of non-insulated and insulated roofs. The observational DAIH is highly coincident with the theoretical one, validating the theoretical model. It was found that insulating the roof, increasing the rooftop albedo, or both options can effectively curtail the heat gain in buildings during the summer season. The proposed theoretical model would be a powerful tool for evaluating the heat gain of the buildings and estimating the energy savings potential of high-reflective cool roofs. - Highlights: • Daily accumulative heat gain from a building roof is theoretically modeled. • Daily accumulative heat gain from a building roof increases linearly with rooftop absorptivity. • Increasing the roof insulation tapers the effect of the rooftop absorptivity. • The theoretical model is powerful for estimating energy savings of reflective roofs.

Intégration des systèmes à absorption solaire de petites puissances aux bâtiments - approche multifonction solaire : chauffage, ECS et rafraîchissement

OpenAIRE

Jabbour , Noel

2011-01-01

The introduction of new low capacity absorption chillers opens new prospects for the multifunction multisource solar systems (MFSSYS) which exploit the full potential of the solar energy for heating, cooling and production of domestic hot water (DHW) purposes. The solar combisystems (SCS), which preceded the MFSSYS, lacked an adapted procedure for the sizing of their main components: the solar collector and the solar thermal storage tank. From the point of view of the energy and investment co...

Fiscal 1974 Sunshine Project result report. R and D on solar cooling/heating and hot water supply system (R and D on the system for apartment houses); 1974 nendo taiyo reidanbo oyobi kyuto system no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Shugo jutakuyo system no kenkyu kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1975-05-01

This report describes the fiscal 1974 R and D result on solar cooling/heating and hot water supply systems for apartment houses. In system analysis, the system plan was selected through basic data survey, modeling by combining some kinds of such systems and energy flow calculation. On solar heat collector, theoretical analysis was made on a stationary plane collector, and study was made on cover glass material and absorption surface performances. On Rankine's engine, studies on advanced selective absorption film, transmissive film, prevention of heat radiation and converging collector were necessary. As solar heat driving refrigerators, absorptive one and Rankine's one were promising. As heat media for refrigerators, R-11 and 113, and R-114 and 11 were suitable for turbo one and displacement one, respectively. Since a displacement compressor is featured by high-efficiency lower-speed operation than that of turbo one without any constraint, its direct connection with a motor or generator is possible. Screw compressor belonging to displacement one was promising. Rotary displacement one was also promising in a small-capacity range within 20-50RT. (NEDO)

Analysis of power and cooling cogeneration using ammonia-water mixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padilla, Ricardo Vasquez; Demirkaya, Goekmen; Goswami, D. Yogi; Stefanakos, Elias; Rahman, Muhammad M.

2010-01-01

Development of innovative thermodynamic cycles is important for the efficient utilization of low-temperature heat sources such as solar, geothermal and waste heat sources. This paper presents a parametric analysis of a combined power/cooling cycle, which combines the Rankine and absorption refrigeration cycles, uses ammonia-water mixture as the working fluid and produces power and cooling simultaneously. This cycle, also known as the Goswami Cycle, can be used as a bottoming cycle using waste heat from a conventional power cycle or as an independent cycle using solar or geothermal energy. A thermodynamic study of power and cooling cogeneration is presented. The performance of the cycle for a range of boiler pressures, ammonia concentrations and isentropic turbine efficiencies are studied to find out the sensitivities of net work, amount of cooling and effective efficiencies. The roles of rectifier and superheater on the cycle performance are investigated. The cycle heat source temperature is varied between 90-170 o C and the maximum effective first law and exergy efficiencies for an absorber temperature of 30 o C are calculated as 20% and 72%, respectively. The turbine exit quality of the cycle for different boiler exit scenarios shows that turbine exit quality decreases when the absorber temperature decreases.

Gas cooled solar tower power plant (GAST) KWU approach to a 20 MW hybrid system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayer, Martin

1980-07-01

The gas cooled solar tower powerplant with a hybrid solar-fossil heating system in the form given here represents a significant step towards the industrial use of solar energy. The transition from fossil fuels to solar energy can be facilitated for the power plant operators if the transition is gradual and if conventional technology is used. Using solar energy and with a turbine inlet temperature of 800/sup 0/C the GAST power plant reaches an output of approximately 20 MW and a thermal efficiency of approximately 40% reference to the heat supplied by the receiver. In the absence of solar radiation the plant can be operated exclusively on fossil fuel. Increasing the turbine inlet temperature to 1000/sup 0/C enables an efficiency of about 47% to be reached in the GUD cycle.

Solar energy powering up aerial misting systems for cooling surroundings in Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atieh, Ahmad; Al Shariff, Samir

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Demonstrate solar energy misting system for the first time to our knowledge. ► Return on investment for such a system is recovered within two and half years. ► Solar panel tilt position is 25° due south in Medina Munawarah. ► The misting system is capable of lowering ambient temperature over 10 °C. - Abstract: We demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge a misting system that is powered by solar energy. The system was used to cool down an open area in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The ambient and surrounding temperatures were measured and compared for different timing signals that were applied to the misting system. The used solar panel performance is evaluated for different loads, and tilting settings. The return on investment for the misting system is found to be about two years and half.

Boost Converter Fed High Performance BLDC Drive for Solar PV Array Powered Air Cooling System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shobha Rani Depuru

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the utilization of a DC-DC boost converter as a mediator between a Solar Photovoltaic (SPV array and the Voltage Source Inverters (VSI in an SPV array powered air cooling system to attain maximum efficiency. The boost converter, over the various common DC-DC converters, offers many advantages in SPV based applications. Further, two Brushless DC (BLDC motors are employed in the proposed air cooling system: one to run the centrifugal water pump and the other to run a fan-blower. Employing a BLDC motor is found to be the best option because of its top efficiency, supreme reliability and better performance over a wide range of speeds. The air cooling system is developed and simulated using the MATLAB/Simulink environment considering the steady state variation in the solar irradiance. Further, the efficiency of BLDC drive system is compared with a conventional Permanent Magnet DC (PMDC motor drive system and from the simulated results it is found that the proposed system performs better.

Fiscal 1976 Sunshine Project result report. R and D on solar cooling/heating and hot water supply system (R and D on the system for new detached houses); 1976 nendo taiyo reidanbo oyobi kyuto system no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. shinchiku kojin jutakuyo system no kenkyu kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1977-03-01

R and D was made on solar systems for new detached houses, and design and construction of the experimental house were carried out. In system analysis, assessment of solar cooling/heating systems, improvement of a simulation model based on measured data, and improvement of cooling/heating systems by simulation were conducted. In development of equipment and materials for the experimental house, R and D was made on component materials, connection method and installation method on houses for vacuum glass tube type solar collectors, and a solar collector was fabricated. R and D was also made on combination of absorbent and coolant, drop type coolant generator and performance experiment for absorption refrigerators, and a refrigerator was fabricated. The experimental house is 2-stored RC wall construction of 79.94m{sup 2} in building area, and 133.26m{sup 2} in total floor area. From the viewpoint of energy saving, outside insulation, double window, and insulating rain shutter door were adopted. The newly developed vacuum glass tube type solar collector is applicable to existing houses because of its higher flexibility. (NEDO)

Solar-assisted dual-effect adsorption cycle for the production of cooling effect and potable water

KAUST Repository

Ng, K. C.

2009-05-17

This paper investigates the performance of a solar-assisted adsorption (AD) cycle which produces two useful effects, namely cooling and desalination, with only a low-temperature heat input such as thermal energy from solar collectors. Heat sources varying from 65 to 80°C can be obtained from 215-m2 flat plate-type solar collectors to regenerate the proposed silica gel-water-based AD cycle. In this paper, both mathematical modelling and experimental results from the AD cycle operation are discussed, in terms of two key parameters, namely specific daily water production (SDWP) and specific cooling capacity (SCC). The experimental results show that the AD cycle is capable of producing chilled water at 7 to 10°C with varying SCC range of 25-35 Rton/tonne of silica gel. Simultaneously, the AD cycle produces a SDWP of 3-5 m3 per tonne of silica gel per day, rendering it as a dual-effect machine that has an overall conversion or performance ratio of 0.8-1.1. © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Solar-assisted dual-effect adsorption cycle for the production of cooling effect and potable water

KAUST Repository

Ng, K. C.; Thu, K.; Chakraborty, A.; Saha, B. B.; Chun, W. G.

2009-01-01

This paper investigates the performance of a solar-assisted adsorption (AD) cycle which produces two useful effects, namely cooling and desalination, with only a low-temperature heat input such as thermal energy from solar collectors. Heat sources varying from 65 to 80°C can be obtained from 215-m2 flat plate-type solar collectors to regenerate the proposed silica gel-water-based AD cycle. In this paper, both mathematical modelling and experimental results from the AD cycle operation are discussed, in terms of two key parameters, namely specific daily water production (SDWP) and specific cooling capacity (SCC). The experimental results show that the AD cycle is capable of producing chilled water at 7 to 10°C with varying SCC range of 25-35 Rton/tonne of silica gel. Simultaneously, the AD cycle produces a SDWP of 3-5 m3 per tonne of silica gel per day, rendering it as a dual-effect machine that has an overall conversion or performance ratio of 0.8-1.1. © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Advanced phase change materials and systems for solar passive heating and cooling of residential buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salyer, I.O.; Sircar, A.K.; Dantiki, S.

1988-01-01

During the last three years under the sponsorship of the DOE Solar Passive Division, the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) has investigated four phase change material (PCM) systems for utility in thermal energy storage for solar passive heating and cooling applications. From this research on the basis of cost, performance, containment, and environmental acceptability, we have selected as our current and most promising series of candidate phase change materials, C-15 to C-24 linear crystalline alkyl hydrocarbons. The major part of the research during this contract period was directed toward the following three objectives. Find, test, and develop low-cost effective phase change materials (PCM) that melt and freeze sharply in the comfort temperature range of 73--77{degree}F for use in solar passive heating and cooling of buildings. Define practical materials and processes for fire retarding plasterboard/PCM building products. Develop cost-effective methods for incorporating PCM into building construction materials (concrete, plasterboard, etc.) which will lead to the commercial manufacture and sale of PCM-containing products resulting in significant energy conservation.

Fiscal 1976 Sunshine Project result report. R and D on solar cooling/heating and hot water supply system (R and D on metal system materials); 1976 nendo taiyo reidanbo oyobi kyuto system no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Kinzokukei zairyo no kenkyu kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1977-03-01

This report describes the fiscal 1976 research result on high-efficiency high-durability inexpensive metallic collectors, equipment and materials for solar cooling/heating and hot water supply systems. In the study on metal materials for heat collector plates, corrosion-proofing experiment was made on Al-Zn, Al-Zn-In and Al-Zn-Fe-In alloys treated by bainite under 7 kinds of environmental conditions, resulting in no formation of any through hole. Study was also made on water flow corrosion test of A1100 material, and water- corrosion retardant for Al. In the study on selective absorption films, study was made on secondary electrochemically coated film and vacuum deposition film. Fabrication, test operation and preliminary experiment were made on the large secondary electrolysis facility for full- scale solar panels. The selective absorptivity of secondary electrochemically coated films was a maximum of 0.95 in absorptivity and 0.10 in emissivity, showing the favorable selective absorptivity of both Ni and Co. The durability test result showed favorable heat resistance, light resistance and moisture resistance. (NEDO)

Experimental studies of solar heat pipe used to operate absorption chiller in conditions of Vietnam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hiep, Le Chi [Ho Chi Minh City Univ. of Tech., Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Quoc, Hoang An [Ho Chi Minh City Univ. of Tech. Education, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Hung, Hoang Duong [Danang Univ. of Tech., Danang City (Viet Nam)

2008-07-01

Several models of solar heat pipe have been fabricated and tested. The experiments show that the flat plate model could be used to operate absorption chiller in the climate of southern part of Vietnam. Two main advantages of the selected solar heat pipe are low cost and easy fabrication at local conditions. It is expected that the selected solar heat pipe could attract attention of the community to develop the application of solar energy in Vietnam. Based on the current demand, the paper presents the experimental studies of the first generation of low cost solar heat pipe. The paper also discusses the ability of application of solar air conditioning in Vietnam and recommends the suitable diagram mixing solar energy with other heat source to operate stably the system. (orig.)

A survey of TiOλ567 nm absorption in solar-type stars

Science.gov (United States)

Azizi, Fatemeh; Mirtorabi, Mohammad Taghi

2018-04-01

Molecular absorption bands are estimators of stellar activity and spot cycles on magnetically active stars. We have previously introduced a new colour index that compares absorption strength of the titanium oxide (TiO) at 567 nm with nearby continuum. In this paper, we implement this index to measure long-term activity variations and the statistical properties of the index in a sample of 302 solar-type stars from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet search Spectrograph planet search programme. The results indicate a pattern of change in star's activity, covers a range of periods from 2 yr up to 17 yr.

Standalone cool/freeze cluster driven by solar photovoltaic energy. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katic, I.; Pedersen, Per Henrik; Jacobsen, Emil

2010-12-15

The objective of the project is to develop and demonstrate a grid-independent cold storage system for perishable food, medicine or other goods, with a special focus on the need for such systems in developing countries with a sparse and unreliable supply of electricity. The project is directly based on the result from the international SolarChill project where a unique battery less solar driven vaccine refrigerator was developed by Vestfrost in cooperation with Danish Technological Institute (DTI). The project partners are Danish Technological Institute (Project manager), Danfoss, Grundfos, Fresvik (Norway) and Karise Klejnsmedie. The refrigeration system is set up at the solar energy test area of DTI, where a PV array with a nominal power of 800 W has been established. The batteries and charge controller are purchased from a Danish PV system retailer. The inverter is a trapezoid 50 Hz 230 Vac inverter is a robust type with high surge current. The two AC cabinets are standard low energy household freezers, whereas the DC cabinet is a special ice-lined refrigerator (fresh food/middle temperature) with high thermal capacity in its walls. The selection of large chest type freezers gives low specific energy consumption due to a high volume/surface ratio and low air infiltration. The commercial low energy cabinets are relatively inexpensive, and can operate with an extremely low consumption if the thermostat is set to cooling mode. As part of this quite extensive project, there have been a number of contacts with associated activities as well as direct requests from companies operating in 3rd world countries. The two most important cases have been a milk-cooling project in Uganda and a World Bank GEF project regarding improved storage methods for vaccines. The current design of the PV driven refrigeration system could be modified to milk cooling, and this is actually being investigated by the Danish company Karise Klejnsmedie who are specialist in stainless steel

A novel technique for the production of cool colored concrete tile and asphalt shingle roofing products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levinson, Ronnen; Akbari, Hashem; Berdahl, Paul [Heat Island Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (United States); Wood, Kurt; Skilton, Wayne; Petersheim, Jerry [Arkema, Inc., Philadelphia, PA (United States)

2010-06-15

The widespread use of solar-reflective roofing materials can save energy, mitigate urban heat islands and slow global warming by cooling the roughly 20% of the urban surface that is roofed. In this study we created prototype solar-reflective nonwhite concrete tile and asphalt shingle roofing materials using a two-layer spray coating process intended to maximize both solar reflectance and factory-line throughput. Each layer is a thin, quick-drying, pigmented latex paint based on either acrylic or a poly(vinylidene fluoride)/acrylic blend. The first layer is a titanium dioxide rutile white basecoat that increases the solar reflectance of a gray-cement concrete tile from 0.18 to 0.79, and that of a shingle surfaced with bare granules from 0.06 to 0.62. The second layer is a ''cool'' color topcoat with weak near-infrared (NIR) absorption and/or strong NIR backscattering. Each layer dries within seconds, potentially allowing a factory line to pass first under the white spray, then under the color spray. We combined a white basecoat with monocolor topcoats in various shades of red, brown, green and blue to prepare 24 cool colored prototype tiles and 24 cool colored prototypes shingles. The solar reflectances of the tiles ranged from 0.26 (dark brown; CIELAB lightness value L{sup *}=29) to 0.57 (light green; L{sup *}=76); those of the shingles ranged from 0.18 (dark brown; L{sup *}=26) to 0.34 (light green; L{sup *}=68). Over half of the tiles had a solar reflectance of at least 0.40, and over half of the shingles had a solar reflectance of at least 0.25. (author)

Assessment of Energy, Environmental and Economic Performance of a Solar Desiccant Cooling System with Different Collector Types

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Angrisani

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Desiccant-based air handling units can achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy savings with respect to conventional air conditioning systems. Benefits are maximized when they interact with renewable energy technologies, such as solar collectors. In this work, experimental tests and data derived from scientific and technical literature are used to implement a model of a solar desiccant cooling system, considering three different collector technologies (air, flat-plate and evacuated collectors. Simulations were then performed to compare the energy, environmental and economic performance of the system with those of a desiccant-based unit where regeneration thermal energy is supplied by a natural gas boiler, and with those of a conventional air-handling unit. The only solution that allows achieving the economic feasibility of the solar desiccant cooling unit consists of 16 m2 of evacuated solar collectors. This is able to obtain, with respect to the reference system, a reduction of primary energy consumption and of the equivalent CO2 emissions of 50.2% and 49.8%, respectively, but with a payback time of 20 years.

Artificial neural network analysis of triple effect absorption refrigeration systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hajizadeh Aghdam, A. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Islamic Azad University (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], email: a.hajizadeh@iaukashan.ac.ir; Nazmara, H.; Farzaneh, B. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], email: h.nazmara@nioec.org, email: b_farzaneh_ms@yahoo.com

2011-07-01

In this study, artificial neural networks are utilized to predict the performance of triple effect series and parallel flow absorption refrigeration systems, with lithium bromide/water as the working fluid. Important parameters such as high generator and evaporator temperatures were varied and their effects on the performance characteristics of the refrigeration unit were observed. Absorption refrigeration systems make energy savings possible because they can use heat energy to produce cooling, in place of the electricity used for conventional vapour compression chillers. In addition, non-conventional sources of energy (such as solar, waste heat, and geothermal) can be utilized as their primary energy input. Moreover, absorption units use environmentally friendly working fluid pairs instead of CFCs and HCFCs, which affect the ozone layer. Triple effect absorption cycles were analysed. Results apply for both series and parallel flow systems. A relative preference for parallel-flow over series-flow is also shown.

Cool metal roofing tested for energy efficiency and sustainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, W.A.; Desjarlais, A. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oakridge, TN (United States); Parker, D.S. [Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL (United States); Kriner, S. [Metal Construction Association, Glenview, IL (United States)

2004-07-01

A 3 year field study was conducted in which temperature, heat flow, reflectance and emittance field data were calculated for 12 different painted and unpainted metal roofs exposed to weathering at an outdoor test facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oakridge, Tennessee. In addition, the Florida Solar Energy Center tested several Habitat for Humanity homes during one summer in Fort Myers, Florida. The objective was to determine how cooling and heating energy loads in a building are affected by the solar reflectance and infrared emittance of metal roofs. The Habitat for Humanities houses had different roofing systems which reduced the attic heat gain. White reflective roofs were shown to reduce cooling energy needs by 18 to 26 per cent and peak demand by 28 to 35 per cent. High solar reflectance and high infrared emittance roofs incur surface temperatures that are about 3 degrees C warmer than the ambient air temperature. A dark absorptive roof exceeds the ambient air temperature by more than 40 degrees C. It hot climates, a high solar reflectance and high infrared emittance roof can reduce the air conditioning load and reduce peak energy demands on the utility. It was concluded that an informed decision of the roof surface properties of reflectance and emittance can significantly reduce energy costs for homeowners and builders in hot climates. 7 refs., 2 tabs., 7 figs.

Comparative analysis of thermally activated, environmentally friendly cooling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Y.; Metchop, L.; Frantzis, A.; Phelan, P.E.

2008-01-01

This paper compares the relative performances of three different thermally activated, environmentally friendly cooling systems, e.g. a silica-gel-water adsorption system, a LiBr-H 2 O absorption system and a desiccant air system. The adsorption and absorption systems in the current study employ water as the refrigerant, while the desiccant system cools atmospheric air directly. Each of these systems can be utilized at relatively low heat source temperatures such as achieved by flat plate solar collectors, but it is unclear which of these systems is best suited to what range of heat source temperature. Our study explores answers to this question by generating quantitative results comparing their relative thermal performance, i.e. COP and refrigeration capacity, and a qualitative comparison based on the size, maturity of technology, safe operation etc. In order to provide a fair comparison between the fundamentally different systems, a UA (overall heat transfer coefficient multiplied by the heat transfer area) value of 1.0 kW deg. C -1 is considered for the heat exchanger that transfers heat from the supplied hot water. Furthermore, to compare systems of similar size, the mass of silica-gel in the adsorption and desiccant systems and the mass of LiBr-H 2 O solution in the absorption system were specified such that each system provides the same amount of refrigeration (8.0 kW) at a source temperature of 90 deg. C. It is found that the absorption and adsorption cooling systems have a higher refrigeration capacity at heat source temperatures below 90 deg. C, while the desiccant air system outperforms the others at temperatures above 90 deg. C

Parametric Analysis of Design Parameter Effects on the Performance of a Solar Desiccant Evaporative Cooling System in Brisbane, Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunlong Ma

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Solar desiccant cooling is widely considered as an attractive replacement for conventional vapor compression air conditioning systems because of its environmental friendliness and energy efficiency advantages. The system performance of solar desiccant cooling strongly depends on the input parameters associated with the system components, such as the solar collector, storage tank and backup heater, etc. In order to understand the implications of different design parameters on the system performance, this study has conducted a parametric analysis on the solar collector area, storage tank volume, and backup heater capacity of a solid solar desiccant cooling system for an office building in Brisbane, Australia climate. In addition, a parametric analysis on the outdoor air humidity ratio control set-point which triggers the operation of the desiccant wheel has also been investigated. The simulation results have shown that either increasing the storage tank volume or increasing solar collector area would result in both increased solar fraction (SF and system coefficient of performance (COP, while at the same time reduce the backup heater energy consumption. However, the storage tank volume is more sensitive to the system performance than the collector area. From the economic aspect, a storage capacity of 30 m3/576 m2 has the lowest life cycle cost (LCC of $405,954 for the solar subsystem. In addition, 100 kW backup heater capacity is preferable for the satisfaction of the design regeneration heating coil hot water inlet temperature set-point with relatively low backup heater energy consumption. Moreover, an outdoor air humidity ratio control set-point of 0.008 kgWater/kgDryAir is more reasonable, as it could both guarantee the indoor design conditions and achieve low backup heater energy consumption.

E-beam deposited Ag-nanoparticles plasmonic organic solar cell and its absorption enhancement analysis using FDTD-based cylindrical nano-particle optical model.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Richard S; Zhu, Jinfeng; Park, Jeung Hun; Li, Lu; Yu, Zhibin; Shen, Huajun; Xue, Mei; Wang, Kang L; Park, Gyechoon; Anderson, Timothy J; Pei, Qibing

2012-06-04

We report the plasmon-assisted photocurrent enhancement in Ag-nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) embedded PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM organic solar cells, and systematically investigate the causes of the improved optical absorption based on a cylindrical Ag-NPs optical model which is simulated with a 3-Dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The proposed cylindrical Ag-NPs optical model is able to explain the optical absorption enhancement by the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) modes, and to provide a further understanding of Ag-NPs shape parameters which play an important role to determine the broadband absorption phenomena in plasmonic organic solar cells. A significant increase in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the plasmonic solar cell was experimentally observed and compared with that of the solar cells without Ag-NPs. Finally, our conclusion was made after briefly discussing the electrical effects of the fabricated plasmonic organic solar cells.

Solar heating and cooling system for an office building at Reedy Creek Utilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1978-08-01

This final report describes in detail the solar energy system installed in a new two-story office building at the Reedy Creek Utilities Company, which provides utility service to Walt Disney World at Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The solar components were partly funded by the Department of Energy under Contract EX-76-C-01-2401, and the technical management was by NASA/George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. The solar energy system application is 100 percent heating, 80 percent cooling, and 100 percent hot water. The collector is a modular cylindrical concentrator type with an area of 3.840 square feet. The storage medium is water with a capacity of 10,000 gallons hot and 10,000 gallons chilled. Design, construction, operation, cost, maintenance, and performance are described in depth. Detailed drawings are included.

Preliminary Study of Solar Chimney Assisted Cooling System for SMART

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Byung Il; Park, Seong Jun; Lee, Young Hyeon; Park, Hyo Chan; Park, Youn Won [BEES Inc., KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

In this paper, the possibility of application for a complete passive final heat removal system using a solar chimney power plant for SMART NPP was estimated. Additionally the size of the cooling system was approximately calculated under the some assumptions. In order to estimate the applicability of SCPP as a complete passive secondary cooling system for SMART, we try to calculate the size of heat exchanger and simulate SCPP performance. As a result, it was found that SCPP could be coupled with SMART and some of waste heat could be recovered into electricity without any change in SCPP size. The related all parameters satisfying the constraint of the final heat removal system for SMART were calculated. Using the constraint of the amount of heat to be removed from SMART, two kinds of SCPP performances were analyzed; one for a stand alone SCPP in Fig 8(a) and second for SCPP with SMART in Fig 8(b)

Exergetic analysis of a double stage LiBr-H2O thermal compressor cooled by air/water and driven by low grade heat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Izquierdo, M.; Venegas, M.; Garcia, N.; Palacios, E.

2005-01-01

In the present paper, an exergetic analysis of a double stage thermal compressor using the lithium bromide-water solution is performed. The double stage system considered allows obtaining evaporation temperatures equal to 5 deg. C using solar heat coming from flat plate collectors and other low grade thermal sources. In this study, ambient air and water are alternatively used as cooling fluids without crystallization problems up to condensation-absorption temperatures equal to 50 deg. C. The results obtained give the entropy generated, the exergy destroyed and the exergetic efficiency of the double stage thermal compressor as a function of the absorption temperature. The conclusions obtained show that the irreversibilities generated by the double stage thermal compressor will tend to increase with the absorption temperature up to 45 deg. C. The maximum value corresponds to 1.35 kJ kg -1 K -1 . The entropy generated and the exergy destroyed by the air cooled system are higher than those by the water cooled one. The difference between the values increases when the absorption temperature increases. For an absorption temperature equal to 50 deg. C, the air cooled mode generates 14% more entropy and destroys 14% more exergy than the water cooled one. Also, the results are compared with those of previous studies for single and double effect air cooled and water cooled thermal compressors. The conclusions show that the double stage system has about 22% less exergetic efficiency than the single effect one and 32% less exergetic efficiency than the double effect one

Intermittent Solar Ammonia Absorption Cycle (ISAAC) refrigeration for lesser developed countries

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, Donald C.

1990-02-01

The Intermittent Solar Ammonia Absorption Cycle (ISAAC) refrigerator is a solar thermal technology which provides low cost, efficient, reliable ice-making to areas without ready access to electricity. An ISAAC refrigeration system consists of a compound parabolic solar collector, two pressure vessels, a condenser, a cold box or refrigerated space, and simple connective piping -- no moving parts or electrical components. Most parts are simple construction or plumbing grade materials, locally available in many remote areas. This technology has numerous potential benefits in lesser developed countries both by providing a cheap, reliable source of ice, and, since manufacture requires only semi-skilled labor, a source of employment to the local economy. Applications include vaccine storage for health care clinics; fish, meat, and dairy product storage; and personal consumption. Importantly, this technology increases the quality of life for people in lesser developed countries without depleting fossil fuel resources or increasing the release of greenhouse gases such as CO2 and chlorofluorocarbons.

Exploring H2O Prominence in Reflection Spectra of Cool Giant Planets

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, Ryan J.; Marley, Mark S.; Fortney, Jonathan J.; Lewis, Nikole K.

2018-05-01

The H2O abundance of a planetary atmosphere is a powerful indicator of formation conditions. Inferring H2O in the solar system giant planets is challenging, due to condensation depleting the upper atmosphere of water vapor. Substantially warmer hot Jupiter exoplanets readily allow detections of H2O via transmission spectroscopy, but such signatures are often diminished by the presence of clouds composed of other species. In contrast, highly scattering water clouds can brighten planets in reflected light, enhancing molecular signatures. Here, we present an extensive parameter space survey of the prominence of H2O absorption features in reflection spectra of cool (T eff clouds brighten the planet: T eff ∼ 150 K, g ≳ 20 ms‑2, f sed ≳ 3, m ≲ 10× solar. In contrast, planets with g ≲ 20 ms‑2 and T eff ≳ 180 K display substantially prominent H2O features embedded in the Rayleigh scattering slope from 0.4 to 0.73 μm over a wide parameter space. High f sed enhances H2O features around 0.94 μm, and enables these features to be detected at lower temperatures. High m results in dampened H2O absorption features, due to water vapor condensing to form bright, optically thick clouds that dominate the continuum. We verify these trends via self-consistent modeling of the low-gravity exoplanet HD 192310c, revealing that its reflection spectrum is expected to be dominated by H2O absorption from 0.4 to 0.73 μm for m ≲ 10× solar. Our results demonstrate that H2O is manifestly detectable in reflected light spectra of cool giant planets only marginally warmer than Jupiter, providing an avenue to directly constrain the C/O and O/H ratios of a hitherto unexplored population of exoplanetary atmospheres.

Fiscal 1976 Sunshine Project result report. R and D on solar cooling/heating and hot water supply system; 1976 nendo taiyonetsu reidanbo kyuto system no kenkyu seika hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1977-03-01

This report describes the fiscal 1974-76 research result on solar cooling/heating and hot water supply systems. Research was made on survey and analysis of current R and D states, system analysis, energy impact analysis, installation sites of solar collectors, diffusion policy, profitability, and performance evaluation method. Main research results obtained are as follows. The effect of solar cooling/heating and hot water supply on the Japanese energy demand in 2000 is estimated to be 13% for residences and 5% for the other buildings. Environment pollution derived from solar cooling/heating is extremely less than that from conventional energy quantitatively. The facility cost is estimated to be probably 27,000yen/m{sup 2} in collector cost, and nearly 100,000yen/t in heat storage tank cost. As design data for solar cooling/heating systems, the estimation method of heat collection for every solar radiation rank, performance comparison of honeycomb type collectors, and various data for air heat collection systems are presented. (NEDO)

Exergetic analysis of a double stage LiBr-H{sub 2}O thermal compressor cooled by air/water and driven by low grade heat

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Izquierdo, M. [Instituto C.C. Eduardo Torroja (CSIC), Edificacion y Habitabilidad, Madrid (Spain); Venegas, M.; Garcia, N. [Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain). Departamento de Ingenieria Termica y Fluidos; Palacios, E. [Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain). Departamento de Mecanica Industrial

2005-05-01

In the present paper, an exergetic analysis of a double stage thermal compressor using the lithium bromide-water solution is performed. The double stage system considered allows obtaining evaporation temperatures equal to 5{sup o} C using solar heat coming from flat plate collectors and other low grade thermal sources. In this study, ambient air and water are alternatively used as cooling fluids without crystallization problems up to condensation-absorption temperatures equal to 50 {sup o}C. The results obtained give the entropy generated, the exergy destroyed and the exergetic efficiency of the double stage thermal compressor as a function of the absorption temperature. The conclusions obtained show that the irreversibilities generated by the double stage thermal compressor will tend to increase with the absorption temperature up to 45 {sup o}C. The maximum value corresponds to 1.35 kJ kg{sup -}1{sup K-1}. The entropy generated and the exergy destroyed by the air cooled system are higher than those by the water cooled one. The difference between the values increases when the absorption temperature increases. For an absorption temperature equal to 50 {sup o}C, the air cooled mode generates 14% more entropy and destroys 14% more exergy than the water cooled one. Also, the results are compared with those of previous studies for single and double effect air cooled and water cooled thermal compressors. The conclusions show that the double stage system has about 22% less exergetic efficiency than the single effect one and 32% less exergetic efficiency than the double effect one. (author)

Absorption of water vapour in the falling film of water-(LiBr + LiI + LiNO{sub 3} + LiCl) in a vertical tube at air-cooling thermal conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bourouis, Mahmoud; Valles, Manel; Medrano, Marc; Coronas, Alberto [Centro de Innovacion Tecnologica en Revalorizacion Energetica y Refrigeracion, CREVER, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Autovia de Salou, s/n, 43006, Tarragona (Spain)

2005-05-01

In air-cooled water-LiBr absorption chillers the working conditions in the absorber and condenser are shifted to higher temperatures and concentrations, thereby increasing the risk of crystallisation. To develop this technology, two main problems are to be addressed: the availability of new salt mixtures with wider range of solubility than water-LiBr, and advanced absorber configurations that enable to carry out simultaneously an appropriate absorption process and an effective air-cooling. One way of improving the solubility of LiBr aqueous solutions is to add other salts to create multicomponent salt solutions. The aqueous solution of the quaternary salt system (LiBr + LiI + LiNO{sub 3} + LiCl) presents favourable properties required for air-cooled absorption systems: less corrosive and crystallisation temperature about 35 K lower than that of water-LiBr.This paper presents an experimental study on the absorption of water vapour over a wavy laminar falling film of an aqueous solution of (LiBr + LiI + LiNO{sub 3} + LiCl) on the inner wall of a water-cooled smooth vertical tube. Cooling water temperatures in the range 30-45 C were selected to simulate air-cooling thermal conditions. The results are compared with those obtained in the same experimental set-up with water-LiBr solutions.The control variables for the experimental study were: absorber pressure, solution Reynolds number, solution concentration and cooling water temperature. The parameters considered to assess the absorber performance were: absorber thermal load, mass absorption flux, degree of subcooling of the solution leaving the absorber, and the falling film heat transfer coefficient.The higher solubility of the multicomponent salt solution makes possible the operation of the absorber at higher salt concentration than with the conventional working fluid water-LiBr. The absorption fluxes achieved with water-(LiBr + LiI + LiNO{sub 3} + LiCl) at a concentration of 64.2 wt% are around 60 % higher than

Solar energy as an alternate energy source to mixed oxide fuels in light-water cooled reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertini, H.W.

1977-01-01

Supplemental information pertaining to the generic environmental impact statement on the Pu recycling process for mixed oxide light-water cooled reactors (GESMO) was requested from several sources. In particular, the role of alternate sources of energy was to be explored and the implications of these alternate sources to the question of Pu recycle in LWRs were to be investigated. In this vein, solar energy as an alternate source is the main subject of this report, along with other information related to solar energy. The general conclusion is that solar energy should have little effect on the decisions concerning GESMO

Monitoring the Energy-Use Effects of Cool Roofs on California Commercial Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbari, Hashem; Levinson, Ronnen; Konopaki, Steve; Rainer, Leo

2004-07-01

Solar-reflective roofs stay cooler in the sun than solar-absorptive roofs. Such ''cool'' roofs achieve lower surface temperatures that reduce heat conduction into the building and the building's cooling load. The California Energy Commission has funded research in which Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has measured the electricity use and peak demand in commercial buildings to document savings from implementing the Commission's Cool Roofs program. The study seeks to determine the savings achieved by cool roofs by monitoring the energy use of a carefully selected assortment of buildings participating in the Cool Roofs program. Measurements were needed because the peak savings resulting from the application of cool roofs on different types of buildings in the diverse California climate zones have not been well characterized to date. Only a few occupancy categories (e.g., office and retail buildings) have been monitored before this, and those were done under a limited number of climatic conditions. To help rectify this situation, LBNL was tasked to select the buildings to be monitored, measure roof performance before and after replacing a hot roof by a cool roof, and document both energy and peak demand savings resulting from installation of cool roofs. We monitored the effects of cool roofs on energy use and environmental parameters in six California buildings at three different sites: a retail store in Sacramento; an elementary school in San Marcos (near San Diego); and a 4-building cold storage facility in Reedley (near Fresno). The latter included a cold storage building, a conditioning and fruit-palletizing area, a conditioned packing area, and two unconditioned packing areas (counted as one building).

Simulation and experimental study of solar-absorption heat transformer integrating with two-stage high temperature vapor compression heat pump

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nattaporn Chaiyat

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In this study, simulation and experiment studies of a 10 kW solar H2O–LiBr absorption heat transformer (AHT integrating with a two-stage vapor compression heat pump (VCHP were carried out. The whole system was named as compression/absorption heat transformer (CAHT. The VCHP was used to recover rejected heat at the AHT condenser which was transferred back to the AHT evaporator at a higher temperature. The AHT unit took solar heat from a set of flat-plate solar collectors in parallel connection. R-134a and R-123 were refrigerants in the VCHP cycle. From the simulation, the total cycle coefficient (COP of the solar-CAHT was 0.71 compared with 0.49 of the normal solar-AHT. From the experiment, the total cycle COPs of the solar-CAHT and the solar-AHT were 0.62 and 0.39, respectively. The experimental results were lower than those of the simulated models due to the oversize of the experimental compressor. The annual expense of the solar-CAHT was found to be 5113 USD which was lower than 5418 USD of the solar-AHT. So it could be concluded that the modified unit was beneficial than the normal unit in terms of energy efficiency and economic expense.

Cooling Li-ion batteries of racing solar car by using multiple phase change materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moraga, Nelson O.; Xamán, Jesús P.; Araya, Ricardo H.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Thermal efficiency of Li-ion batteries improved by use of phase change materials. • Multiple layers of PCM provides good cooling capabilities for solar car batteries. • Evolution of temperature of solar car batteries described by Finite Volume Method. • Thermal control in discharge mode of lithium battery for solar car achieved by PCM. - Abstract: A numerical study of the unsteady phase change convection-conduction heat transfer of an ion-lithium battery with volumetric heat generation used in solar vehicles is presented. The cooling process is investigated for a total of seven arrays of phase change material (PCM): capric acid (PCM 1), eicosane (PCM 2), decahydrated sodium carbonate (PCM 3) and octadecane (PCM 4) located in one or three layers around the battery. The results show that heat conduction predominates in the battery with a PCM and the liquid phase fraction of the PCM indicates that the melting initiates after 7 min, reaching totally liquid state after 14.25 min. From the different configurations of PCM around the battery, the configuration “B” (multiple PCM: PCM 1 (5 mm) + PCM 3 (2.9 mm) + PCM 2 (4.3 mm)) and the configuration with a single layer of PCM 3 (14.3 mm) respectively reduce the maximum temperature of the battery about 20.9 and 23.2 K compared with the temperature reached by the battery without PCM. This result occurs because of the Decahydrated Sodium Carbonate PCM, since it has the highest latent heat and has a low melting point.

Renewable energies dossier. The early beginnings of a change in the building trade. Outstanding evolutions presented at ISH 2001. A development still bounded by the economic sustain of the government. Something new under the sun. Looking for alternate solutions for air-conditioning. A photovoltaic project for developing countries. The solar absorption improves the Banyuls wine. A thermal solar collector for the production of sanitary hot water in Ile-de-France; Dossier energies renouvelables. Les premices d'un mouvement dans le batiment. Des evolutions marquantes presentees a ISH 2001. Un developpemnt encore lie au soutien economique de l'etat. Du nouveau sous le soleil. A la recherche de solutions alternatives pour la climatisation. Un projet photovoltaique pour les pays en voie de developpement. L'absorption solaire bonifie le banyuls. Un capteur solaire thermique pour l'ECS en Ile-de-France

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sappa, F.; Grumel, N.; Haentjens, H.

2001-07-01

The fight against greenhouse gas emissions implies to favor the development and use of renewable energies and to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. The professionals of the building trade are of course concerned by such actions but unfortunately only few space heating/cooling or air-conditioning installations use renewable energies. In France, only one solar absorption air-conditioning installation exists (at Banyuls, Pyrenees Orientales) and the Bordeaux airport is one of the only buildings supplied with a tri-generation unit. This dossier makes a prospective analysis of the existing techniques that would be used in tomorrow's air-conditioning. It comprises 8 articles dealing with: the early beginnings of the use of renewable energies in the building trade and the inventory of existing techniques: solar thermal, cogeneration, tri-generation (electricity, heat and coldness), fuel cells (electrochemical reaction); the outstanding products presented at Frankfurt during the 2001 edition of the ISH exhibition (absorption heat pumps, heat pump with zeolite and water as refrigerant, solar heaters, hybrid systems, condensation boilers, fuel cells..); the bad competitiveness of renewable energies and the necessary financial sustain of the government; the start-up of the 'sun plan' program by the French agency of environment and energy mastery (Ademe) for the development of solar thermal energy in the residential sector; the 'know-how technical notes' edited by the scientific and technical committee of environment industries (Costic) for the development of low energy consumption air-conditioning processes (dry cooling, evaporation cooling, recovery of heat losses etc..); the project of development of photovoltaic cooling systems for developing countries (evaporative cooling or buried pipes); the unique French solar wine ageing cellar of Banyuls (3500 m{sup 2}, 15000 m{sup 3}, 3 levels); the thermal solar collector of the Quality Hotel of Rosny

Reducing a solar-assisted air-conditioning system’s energy consumption by applying real-time occupancy sensors and chilled water storage tanks throughout the summer: A case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosiek, S.; Batlles, F.J.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • We present an innovative occupancy and chilled water storage-based operation mode. • This mode was implemented to the solar-assisted air-conditioning system. • It permits to save 42% of total electrical energy during one cooling period. • It allows storing the excess cooling capacity of the absorption chiller. • It prevents the sudden start/stop (on/off cycles) of the absorption chiller. - Abstract: This study describes an innovative occupancy and chilled-water storage-based operation sequence implemented in a solar-assisted air-conditioning system. The core purpose of this solar-assisted air-conditioning system is to handle the cooling and heating load of the Solar Energy Research Centre (CIESOL), thus minimising its environmental impact. In this study, the cooling mode was investigated with special attention focused on the chilled-water storage circuit. The critical concern is that the solar-assisted air-conditioning system should always operate considering the actual load conditions, not using an abstract maximum load that is predetermined during the system’s design process, which can lead to energy waste during periods of low occupancy. Thus, the fundamental problem is to identify the optimum operation sequence for the solar-assisted air-conditioning system that provides the best energy performance. The significance of this work lies in the demonstration of a new operation strategy that utilises real-time occupancy monitoring and chilled-water storage tanks to improve the efficiency of solar-assisted air-conditioning systems, thereby reducing their electricity consumption. Adopting this strategy resulted in a large energy-saving potential. The results demonstrate that during one cooling period, it is possible to conserve approximately 42% of the total electrical energy consumed by the system prior to the adoption of this operation strategy

Cascading metallic gratings for broadband absorption enhancement in ultrathin plasmonic solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, Long; Sun, Fuhe; Chen, Qin

2014-01-01

The incorporation of plasmonic nanostructures in the thin-film solar cells (TFSCs) is a promising route to harvest light into the nanoscale active layer. However, the light trapping scheme based on the plasmonic effects intrinsically presents narrow-band resonant enhancement of light absorption. Here we demonstrate that by cascading metal nanogratings with different sizes atop the TFSCs, broadband absorption enhancement can be realized by simultaneously exciting multiple localized surface plasmon resonances and inducing strong coupling between the plasmonic modes and photonic modes. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate of 66.5% in the photocurrent in an ultrathin amorphous silicon TFSC with two-dimensional cascaded gratings over the reference cell without gratings

Solution-Processed Environmentally Friendly Ag2S Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells with Broad Spectral Absorption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viktor A. Öberg

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A facile heat-up synthesis route is used to synthesize environmentally friendly Ag2S colloidal quantum dots (CQDs that are applied as light absorbing material in solid state p-i-n junction solar cell devices. The as-synthesized Ag2S CQDs have an average size of around 3.5 nm and exhibit broad light absorption covering ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared wavelength regions. The solar cell devices are constructed with a device architecture of FTO/TiO2/Ag2S CQDs/hole transport material (HTM /Au using a solution-processed approach. Different HTMs, N2,N2,N2′,N2′,N7,N7,N7′,N7′-octakis(4-methoxyphenyl-9,9′-spirobi(9H-fluorene-2,2′,7,7′ tetramine (spiro-OMeTAD, poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl (P3HT, and poly((2,3-bis(3-octyloxyphenyl-5,8-quinoxalinediyl-2,5-thiophenediyl TQ1 are studied for maximizing the device photovoltaic performance. The solar cell device with P3HT as a hole transport material gives the highest performance and the solar cell exhibit broad spectral absorption. These results indicate that Ag2S CQD have high potential for utilization as environmentally friendly light absorbing materials for solar cell application and that the hole transport material is critical to maximize the solar cell photovoltaic performance.

Effect of titanium dioxide (TiO2) on largely improving solar reflectance and cooling property of high density polyethylene (HDPE) by influencing its crystallization behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Shichao; Zhang, Jun

2014-01-01

Highlights: • HDPE/TiO 2 composites have more perfect crystal structure. • Refractive index is the key factor affecting the final solar reflectance. • HDPE/TiO 2 composites can achieve high solar reflectance. • The real cooling property is in accordance with solar reflectance. - Abstract: In this study, the different crystal forms of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) were added into high density polyethylene (HDPE) to fabricate cool material. Crystal structure, crystallization behavior, crystal morphology were investigated by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscope (POM). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was applied to observe dispersion of TiO 2 particles in the HDPE matrix and the cross section morphology. The solar reflectance and actual cooling property were evaluated by UV–Vis–NIR spectrometer and a self-designed device. By adding TiO 2 particles into HDPE matrix, the polymer chain could crystallize into more perfect and thermal stable lamella. The presence of TiO 2 particles dramatically increased the number of nucleation site therefore decreased the crystal size. The subsequent solar reflectance was related to the degree of crystallinity, the spherulite size of HDPE, refractive index, and distribution of TiO 2 particles in HDPE matrix. It was found the rutile TiO 2 could largely improve the total solar reflectance from 28.2% to 51.1%. Finally, the temperature test showed that the composites had excellent cooling property, which was in accordance with solar reflectance result

Energy analysis of a solar advanced refrigeration system; Analisis energetico de un sistema de refrigeracion solar avanzado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Velazquez Limon, Nicolas [Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (Mexico); Best y Brown, Roberto [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Temixco, Morelos (Mexico)

2000-07-01

In this article is presented a solar refrigeration system that integrates the more recent and important technological advances of the training solar systems (SCS) and of the advanced absorption units. An analysis and evaluation is made of the energy behavior of the absorption system with heat exchanger absorber-generator (GAX), air cooled and assisted by a hybrid power plant natural gas-solar. Given the characteristic of high not-linearity of the resulting system of occupations, the proposed methodology contemplates a calculation sequence for the external currents and an iterative procedure for the internal currents. The unit was designed with a capacity of 10.6 kw (3 tons.) of cooling and uses ammonia-water as working fluid. Giving priority to internal energy integration, an arrangement of the GAX cycle is proposed, that allows 19% of solar contribution at full load, being able to be greater at partial loads. In spite of using as cooling means air at 40 Celsius degrees with a relative humidity of 24%, a COP of 0.86 in the cooling mode was obtained and 1.86 in the heating mode, with an internal energy integration of 1013 kJ/min, 37% more of the energy that is supplied in the generator. The massic flow rates of the GAX cycle were compared with those of a basic cycle, resulting 73% and 62% lower for the circulation rate and for the flow rate, respectively. [Spanish] En este articulo se presenta un sistema de refrigeracion solar que integra los avances tecnologicos mas recientes e importantes de los sistemas de capacitacion solar (SCS) y de las unidades de absorcion avanzadas. Se realiza un analisis y evaluacion del comportamiento energetico del sistema de absorcion con intercambio de calor absorbedor-generador (GAX), enfriado por aire y asistido por una fuente de energia hibrida gas natural-solar. Dada la caracteristica de alta no-linealidad del sistema de ocupaciones resultante, la metodologia propuesta contempla una secuencia de calculo para las corrientes externas

Nongray radiative heat transfer analysis in the anisotropic scattering fog layer subjected to solar irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maruyama, Shigenao; Mori, Yusuke; Sakai, Seigo

2004-01-01

Radiative heat transfer in the fog layer is analyzed. Direct and diffuse solar irradiation, and infrared sky flux are considered as incident radiation. Anisotropic scattering of radiation by water droplets is taken into account. Absorption and emission of radiation by water droplets and radiative gases are also considered. Furthermore, spectral dependences of radiative properties of irradiation, reflectivity, gas absorption and scattering and absorption of mist are considered. The radiation element method by ray emission model (REM 2 ) is used for the nongray radiation analysis. Net downward radiative heat flux at the sea surface and radiative equilibrium temperature distribution in the fog layer are calculated for several conditions. Transmitted solar flux decreases as liquid water content (LWC) in the fog increases. However, the value does not become zero but has the value about 60 W/m 2 . The effect of humidity and mist on radiative cooling at night is investigated. Due to high temperature and humidity condition, the radiation cooling at night is not so large even in the clear sky. Furthermore, the radiative equilibrium temperature distribution in the fog layer in the daytime is higher as LWC increases, and the inversion layer of temperature occurs

Performance Evaluation of Photovoltaic Solar System with Different Cooling Methods and a Bi-Reflector PV System (BRPVS: An Experimental Study and Comparative Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Adil Khan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Reducing the price of solar photovoltaic (PV systems has been a constant challenge. Despite recent advances, solar PV systems are still more costly than conventional energy resources. For the first time, this study examines the effectiveness of three different structures/materials: (i silvered glass plane mirror; (ii convex spherical mirrors; and (iii aluminum (Al foil as reflector. Comparative analysis of four different cooling techniques, i.e., water sprinkling system, passive heat sink method, active air fan method, and closed loop method, for enhancement of output power was performed. A novel Bi reflector solar PV system (BRPVS was suggested to control the working of the reflectors. The Al foil enhanced the power output compared to the others. In addition, the effect of using a reflector on the temperature of a solar PV system was studied. High operating temperatures resulted in a decrease in the maximum output power under the same solar radiation conditions. The combined enhancement of the output power by both Al foil BRPVS system and cooling system was almost 22.75–38.55%. An optimal control algorithm to use cooling and BRPVS in an efficient manner is described.

Double utilization of the roof. 'Solar green roofs' - the advantages are in the combination; Das Dach zweifach nutzen. 'SolarGruenDaecher - die Vorteile liegen in der Kombination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mann, Gunter

2013-06-01

Air conditioners cooling with solar energy have already existed for a long time. The core principles are adsorption chillers, absorption chillers and DEC chillers. However, these chillers are relatively expensive compared to air conditioners in compression technology and therefore not often used in the mass market. Since January 2013, Sedna Aire Europe GmbH (Dortmund, Federal Republic of Germany) offers solar-assisted air-conditioners that cost the same as commercial non-solar comparable equipment and enable significant cost savings from the first year. In addition, these air-conditioners are designed as heat pumps, which can be heated.

Performance comparison between ethanol phase-change immersion and active water cooling for solar cells in high concentrating photovoltaic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yiping; Wen, Chen; Huang, Qunwu; Kang, Xue; Chen, Miao; Wang, Huilin

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Thermal performances of ethanol phase-change immersion and active water cooling are compared. • Effects of operation parameters on ethanol phase-change immersion are studied. • Optimum filling ratio is 30% for ethanol phase-change immersion cooling system. • Exergy efficiency of ethanol phase-change immersion method increases by 57%. - Abstract: This paper presents an optimized ethanol phase-change immersion cooling method to obtain lower temperature of dense-array solar cells in high concentrating photovoltaic system. The thermal performances of this system were compared with a conventional active water cooling system with minichannels from the perspectives of start-up characteristic, temperature uniformity, thermal resistance and heat transfer coefficient. This paper also explored the influences of liquid filling ratio, absolute pressure and water flow rate on thermal performances. Dense-array LEDs were used to simulate heat power of solar cells worked under high concentration ratios. It can be observed that the optimal filling ratio was 30% in which the thermal resistance was 0.479 °C/W and the heat transfer coefficient was 9726.21 W/(m 2 ·°C). To quantify the quality of energy output of two cooling systems, exergy analysis are conducted and maximum exergy efficiencies were 17.70% and 11.27%, respectively. The experimental results represent an improvement towards thermal performances of ethanol phase-change immersion cooling system due to the reduction in contact thermal resistance. This study improves the operation control and applications for ethanol phase-change immersion cooling technology.

Simulation of a combined heating, cooling and domestic hot water system based on ground source absorption heat pump

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Wei; You, Tian; Wang, Baolong; Shi, Wenxing; Li, Xianting

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A combined heating/cooling/DHW system based on GSAHP is proposed in cold regions. • The soil imbalance is effectively reduced and soil temperature can be kept stable. • 20% and 15% of condensation/absorption heat is recovered by GSAHP to produce DHW. • The combined system can improve the primary energy efficiency by 23.6% and 44.4%. - Abstract: The amount of energy used for heating and domestic hot water (DHW) is very high and will keep increasing. The conventional ground source electrical heat pump used in heating-dominated buildings has the problems of thermal imbalance, decrease of soil temperature, and deterioration of heating performance. Ground source absorption heat pump (GSAHP) is advantageous in both imbalance reduction and primary energy efficiency (PEE) improvement; however, the imbalance is still unacceptable in the warmer parts of cold regions. A combined heating/cooling/DHW (HCD) system based on GSAHP is proposed to overcome this problem. The GSAHPs using generator absorber heat exchange (GAX) and single-effect (SE) cycles are simulated to obtain the performance under various working conditions. Different HCD systems in Beijing and Shenyang are simulated comparatively in TRNSYS, based on which the thermal imbalance, soil temperature, heat recovery, and energy efficiency are analyzed. Results show that GSAHP–GAX–HCD is suitable for Beijing and GSAHP–SE–HCD is suitable for Shenyang. The imbalance ratio can be reduced to −14.8% in Beijing and to 6.0% in Shenyang with an annual soil temperature variation of only 0.5 °C and 0.1 °C. Furthermore, about 20% and 15% of the total condensation/absorption heat is recovered to produce DHW, and the PEE can reach 1.516 in Beijing and 1.163 in Shenyang. The combined HCD systems can achieve a PEE improvement of 23.6% and 44.4% compared with the normal heating/cooling systems

Onderzoeksrapportage duurzaam koelen : EOS Renewable Cooling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broeze, J.; Sluis, van der S.; Wissink, E.

2010-01-01

For reducing energy use for cooling, alternative methods (that do not rely on electricity) are needed. Renewable cooling is based on naturally available resources such as evaporative cooling, free cooling, phase change materials, ground subcooling, solar cooling, wind cooling, night radiation &

Helium-cooled nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Longton, P.B.; Cowen, H.C.

1975-01-01

In helium cooled HTR's there is a by-pass circuit for cleaning purposes in addition to the main cooling circuit. This is to remove such impurities as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide and water from the coolant. In this system, part of the coolant successively flows first through an oxidation bed of copper oxide and an absorption bed of silica gel, then through activated charcoal or a molecular sieve. The hydrogen and carbon monoxide impurities are absorbed and the dry gas is returned to the main cooling circuit. To lower the hydrogen/water ratio without increasing the hydrogen fraction in the main cooling circuit, some of the hydrogen fraction converted into water is added to the cooling circuit. This is done, inter alia, by bypassing the water produced in the oxidation bed before it enters the absorption bed. The rest of the by-pass circuit, however, also includes an absorption bed with a molecular sieve. This absorbs the oxidized carbon monoxide fraction. In this way, such side effects as the formation of additional methane, carburization of the materials of the by-pass circuit or loss of graphite are avoided. (DG/RF) [de