Solar air conditioning systems offer both heating and cooling, making them ideal for office buildings, guesthouses, schools, hospitals, swimming pools, aquaculture facilities, and homes. Heating is needed in winter and year-round, for example for domestic hot water, heating, and pool water replenishment and temperature control, while cooling is also needed in summer. Using solar hot water for cooling creates a central air conditioning system. Currently, countries around the world are intensively researching solar air conditioning technology. According to surveys, countries and regions that have already or are in the process of implementing solar air conditioning systems include Italy, Spain, Germany, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. This is because air conditioning energy consumption in developed countries accounts for a significant proportion of annual residential energy consumption. Using solar energy to power air conditioning systems is crucial for conserving conventional energy and protecting the natural environment.
Refrigeration Principle
Solar cooling uses solar collectors to provide the heat transfer water needed for the generator in an absorption chiller. The higher the temperature of the heat transfer water, the higher the chiller's coefficient of performance (COP), and thus the cooling efficiency of the air conditioning system. For example, if the heat transfer water temperature is around 60°C, the chiller's COP is approximately 0-40; if the heat transfer water temperature is around 90°C, the chiller's COP is approximately 0-70; and if the heat transfer water temperature is around 120°C, the chiller's COP can reach over 110.
Practical experience has proven that solar air conditioning, combining a heat pipe vacuum tube collector with a lithium bromide absorption chiller, has opened up a new application area for solar thermal technology.
Heating Principle
In winter, when heating is needed, a superconducting solar collector absorbs solar radiation and transfers it via a superconducting fluid to a composite superconducting energy storage converter. When the heat storage system temperature reaches 40°C, the central temperature control system automatically issues a heating command, switching the indoor heating and cooling system into heating mode and discharging hot air through the air outlets. When the room temperature reaches the set point, the hot air output stops. When the room temperature drops below the set point, the hot air output resumes, and this automatic cycle achieves the desired heating effect. (Each room's temperature setting is independent and does not affect each other.) If there are continuous cloudy days and solar energy is insufficient, the biomass thermal energy generator will be put into use to supplement the lack of solar energy.