Solar Cooling for the Sunbelt Regions – a new IEA SHC Task
Abstract
In 2016, air-conditioning accounted for nearly 20% of the total electricity demand in buildings worldwide and is growing faster than any other energy consumption in buildings. The lion’s share of the projected growth in energy use for space cooling comes from emerging economies. This Solar Cooling initiative in cooperation with SHC TCP and MI IC7 is focusing on innovations for affordable, safe and reliable Solar Cooling systems for the Sunbelt regions. The innovation is the adaptation of existing concepts/technologies to the Sunbelt regions using solar energy, either solar thermal or solar PV. The importance of the topic is reflected by the high number of interested entities and their feedback to the workplan and its specific content. Although the IEA SHC Task 65 started in July 2020 several ongoing R&D and demo projects of can be put forward in connection to different activities. This paper introduces the IEA SHC Task 65 and its main content, highlights the ongoing research projects and aims to attract a larger audience to get part of the initiative.