Experimental investigation and performance analysis of a mini-type solar absorption cooling system

A mini-type solar-powered absorption cooling system with a cooling capacity of 8 kW was designed. Lithium bromide-water was used as the working pairs of the chiller. Solar collectors with an area of 96 m2 were installed. A water storage tank with a volume of 3 m3 was used to store the hot water from the solar collectors. The experimental results showed that the average values of PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) and PPD (Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied) of the test room were 0.22 and 5.89, respectively. Taking the average value of PMV and PPD into consideration, the solar cooling system could meet the indoor thermal comfort demand with the comfort level of A. The power consumption was reduced by 43.5% after introducing the stepped utilization of energy into the air handling unit. Meanwhile, a theoretical model was established based on Matlab to predict the variations of the system performance with ambient parameters. It is shown that the solar radiation intensity has a greater impact on the performance of the solar powered absorption cooling system compared with the ambient temperature. It is also shown that the indoor air temperature goes down with the increase of the solar radiation intensity as well as the decrease of the ambient temperature.