Technical and Economic Assessment of the Integration of Refrigeration Concepts into the Proceeding Extension of Solar Energy Systems in Brazil

Abstract

Electricity is the main source used in the refrigeration process of environments and machines. Global warming and the expansion of the tropical belt increase the demand for refrigeration. The use of so-lar-assisted air conditioning has a great potential, especially in sub-tropical regions with high solar radiation contributing to demand´s fulfillment and reducing electricity from non-renewable sources. It has cooling potential in buildings reducing electricity´s peak demand, ecological footprint reducing carbon emissions and building´s ther-mal load using ecological refrigerants. Also benefits the urban mi-croclimate absorbing solar irradiation into the rooftop. The objective of this article is to survey the factors that influence the selection of components for a solar-assisted cooling system in buildings under different climatic conditions using an exploratory methodology based on the bibliography and on a survey of the state of the art describing the fundamental aspects and components of this technology, its func-tion, and benefits. Non-thermally driven applications were also con-sidered, such as conventional steam compression chiller, driven by electricity and compression cycle by photovoltaic energy. Different cooling systems at full load are compared. The research was applied in a school building in the city of Rio de Janeiro, concluding that so-lar-assisted refrigeration is an energetic and environmentally com-petitive alternative compared to compressors powered by electricity in conventional refrigeration systems.