Techno-Economic Analysis of Solar Absorption Cooling for Commercial Buildings in India

*Muthalagappan Narayanan -  Scientific Researcher, Ulm university of applied sciences, Germany
Published: 6 Nov 2017.
Open Access Copyright (c) 2017 International Journal of Renewable Energy Development
Citation Format:
Article Info
Section: Original Research Article
Language: EN
Full Text:
In Vol 6, No 3 (2017): October 2017
Statistics: 1450 593
Abstract

Space cooling and heating always tends to be a major part of the primary energy usage. By using fossil fuel electricity for these purposes, the situation becomes even worse. One of the major electricity consumptions in India is air conditioning. There are a lot of different technologies and few researchers have come up with a debate between solar absorption cooling and PV electric cooling. In a previous paper, PV electric cooling was studied and now as a continuation, this paper focuses on solar thermal absorption cooling systems and their application in commercial/office buildings in India. A typical Indian commercial building is taken for the simulation in TRNSYS. Through this simulation, the feasibility and operational strategy of the system is analysed, after which parametric study and economic analysis of the system is done. When compared with the expenses for a traditional air conditioner unit, this solar absorption cooling will take 13.6 years to pay back and will take 15.5 years to payback the price of itself and there after all the extra money are savings or profit.  Although the place chosen for this study is one of the typical tropical place in India, this payback might vary with different places, climate and the cooling demand.

Article History: Received May 12th 2017; Received in revised form August 15th 2017; Accepted 1st Sept 2017; Available online

How to Cite This Article: Narayanan, M. (2017). Techno-Economic Analysis of Solar Absorption Cooling for Commercial Buildings in India.  International Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 6(3), 253-262.

https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.6.3.253-262

Keywords
solar cooling, TRNSYS, absorption cooling in India, renewable cooling, solar air conditioning, commercial building cooling

Article Metrics:

  1. Al-Alili, A., Islam, M.D., Kubo, I., Hwang, Y., Radermacher, R., 2012. Modeling of a solar powered absorption cycle for Abu Dhabi. Applied Energy 93, 160–167. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.11.034
  2. Breyer, C., 2014. An update on Grid Parity, 29th EUPVSEC- Self-consumption business models - technical and economic challenges, Netherlands.
  3. Budania, A., Ahmad, S., Jain, S., 2013. Transient simulation of a solar absorption cooling system. International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies. doi:10.1093/ijlct/ctt060
  4. Calise, F., 2010. Thermoeconomic analysis and optimization of high efficiency solar heating and cooling systems for different Italian school buildings and climates. Energy and Buildings 42, 992–1003. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.01.011
  5. Dickinson, J.K., Hess, R.O., Seaton, J., van Lambalgen, H., Burnham, A.L., 2010. Cost and performance analysis of a solar thermal cooling project, in: ASME 2010 4th International Conference on Energy Sustainability. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, pp. 217–223.
  6. Eicker, U., Colmenar-Santos, A., Teran, L., Cotrado, M., Borge-Diez, D., 2014. Economic evaluation of solar thermal and photovoltaic cooling systems through simulation in different climatic conditions: An analysis in three different cities in Europe. Energy and Buildings 70, 207–223. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.11.061
  7. Eicker, U., Pietruschka, D., 2009. Design and performance of solar powered absorption cooling systems in office buildings. Energy and Buildings 41, 81–91. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2008.07.015
  8. Florides, G.A., Kalogirou, S.A., Tassou, S.A., Wrobel, L.C., 2002. Modelling and simulation of an absorption solar cooling system for Cyprus. Solar Energy 72, 43–51.
  9. Fong, K.F., Chow, T.T., Lee, C.K., Lin, Z., Chan, L.S., 2010. Comparative study of different solar cooling systems for buildings in subtropical city. Solar Energy 84, 227–244. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2009.11.002
  10. Ghafoor, A., Munir, A., 2015. Worldwide overview of solar thermal cooling technologies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 43, 763–774. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.11.073
  11. Ghafoor, A., Munir, A., 2014. Thermo-economic Optimization of Solar Assisted Heating and Cooling (SAHC) System. International Journal of Renewable Energy Development (IJRED) 3. doi:10.14710/ijred.3.3.217-227
  12. HAREDA - Department of Renewable Energy Government of Haryana [WWW Document], n.d. URL http://hareda.gov.in/index.php?model=gallery&nid=21 (accessed 11.30.16).
  13. India Today, 2015 (Dated-28.07.2015), Infosys to set up 7MW solar plant at Hyderabad campus. URL-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/infosys-to-set-up-7mw-solar-plant-at-hyderabad-campus/1/454565.html (accessed 9.20.15).
  14. JNNSM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission), MNRE (Ministry of Renewable Energy) Indian Government, 30.06.2008, URL http://www.mnre.gov.in/solar-mission/jnnsm/mission-document-3/
  15. Kohlenbach, P., 2006. Solar cooling with absorption chillers: Control strategies and transient chiller performance. Dissertation, TU Berlin.
  16. Lazzarin, R.M., 2014. Solar cooling: PV or thermal? A thermodynamic and economical analysis. International Journal of Refrigeration 39, 38–47. doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2013.05.012
  17. Make in India(Renewable Energy) [WWW Document], n.d. URL http://www.makeinindia.com/sector/renewable-energy (accessed 11.30.16).
  18. Mittal, V., Kasana, K.S., Thakur, N.S., 2013. Performance evaluation of solar absorption cooling system of Bahal (Haryana). Journal of the Indian Institute of Science 85, 295.
  19. Mittal, V., Kasana, K.S., Thakur, N.S., 2006. Modelling and simulation of a solar absorption cooling system for India. Journal of Energy in Southern Africa 17, 65–70.
  20. Narayanan,M., 2015. Techno-Economic Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic Cooling in India. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering Volume 5, Issue 5,286-290
  21. Otanicar, T., Taylor, R.A., Phelan, P.E., 2012. Prospects for solar cooling – An economic and environmental assessment. Solar Energy 86, 1287–1299. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2012.01.020
  22. Pietruschka, D., Jakob, U., Eicker, U., 2010. Solar cooling for southern climates, double effect absorption chillers with high concentrating collectors versus standard single effect systems, in: Proceedings of the Eurosun 2010 Conference, Graz, Austria.
  23. Sunmaxx Solar Inc., n.d., Product Datasheet-Thermopower VHP Vacuum Tube Collectors, NY, USA
  24. TEDA (Tamilnadu Energy Development Agency)- Solar Water Heating Systems TEDA, n.d. URL http://teda.in/solar-water-heating-systems/ (accessed 11.30.2016)
  25. The World Bank, 2008, Residential Consumption of Electricity in India, India: Strategies for Low Carbon Growth
  26. TNERC, 2012, Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Policy 2012, Tamilnadu Electricity Commission, Government of India.
  27. Transient System Simulation Tool – TRNSYS [Software], 2014, Version 17, . Thermal Energy System Specialists, LLC., Madison USA.
  28. TRNSYS Manual, Transient System Simulation Tool - TRNSYS, 2014, Version 17, . Thermal Energy System Specialists, LLC., Madison USA.
  29. Yazaki air conditioners - YFC-S series datasheet, n.d. . Yazaki Energy Systems Incorporated, Texas, USA.

The Authors submitting a manuscript do so on the understanding that if accepted for publication, copyright of the article shall be assigned to International Journal of Renewable Energy Development and Center of Biomass and Renewable Energy, Department of Chemical Engineering Diponegoro University as publisher of the journal.

Copyright encompasses exclusive rights to reproduce and deliver the article in all form and media, including reprints, photographs, microfilms and any other similar reproductions, as well as translations. The reproduction of any part of this journal, its storage in databases and its transmission by any form or media, such as electronic, electrostatic and mechanical copies, photocopies, recordings, magnetic media, etc. , will be allowed only with a written permission from International Journal of Renewable Energy Development and Center of Biomass and Renewable Energy, Department of Chemical Engineering Diponegoro University.

International Journal of Renewable Energy Development and Center of Biomass and Renewable Energy, Department of Chemical Engineering Diponegoro University, the Editors and the Advisory International Editorial Board make every effort to ensure that no wrong or misleading data, opinions or statements be published in the journal. In any way, the contents of the articles and advertisements published in the International Journal of Renewable Energy Development are sole and exclusive responsibility of their respective authors and advertisers.