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

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-H2O 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 m2 to 600 m2 and the storage tank from 6 m3 to 16 m3. Finally, 450 m2 of evacuated tube collectors with a 14 m3 storage tank was proved to be the optimum solution financially with 15 years payback period and 67 k€ net present value.