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

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 (H₂O-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 (NH₃-H₂O) was used in the absorption cycle, rather than H₂O-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 NH₃-H₂O 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 H₂O-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. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.