Review and future trends of solar adsorption refrigeration systems

This paper aims to provide the current state of the art of solar adsorption refrigeration systems operating with the single-bed intermittent cycle (also known as basic cycle). A comprehensive literature review has been conducted and it was concluded that this technology, although attractive, has limitations regarding its performance that seem difficult to overcome. Therefore, new approaches were identified to increase the efficiency and sustainability of basic adsorption cycles, like the development of hybrid or thermal energy storage adsorption systems. A survey of the developments in these new research trends is also presented in this paper. It shows that there are simple adsorption cycles which can be attractive alternatives not only to serve the needs for air-conditioning, refrigeration, ice making, thermal energy storage or hybrid heating and cooling purposes, as standalone or integrated systems, but also to meet the demands for energy conservation and environmental protection.