Extension of the CTSS Test Method Towards Solar Cooling Systems
Abstract
Due to the worldwide increasing demand for cooling and the fact that cooling requirements of buildings and high solar radiation largely coincide, the next evolution step of solar thermal technology are solar cooling systems and in particular so-called SolarCombiPlus systems. These systems provide domestic hot water, space heating and space cooling. Cooling is performed by means of a thermally driven sorption chiller integrated into the system. To support the market entry and to enhance the market penetration of solar cooling systems, it is necessary to have standardised procedures for the overall assessment of such systems. This requires both, performance test methods as well as procedures for the determination of the overall environmental impact. In order to develop the required testing and assessment procedures for solar thermal cooling systems and thermally driven heat pumps (i.e. heat transformers), the project “SolTrans” was started at ITW in 2008. Due to the broad spectrum of locations for the operation of solar cooling and SolarCombiPlus systems and the widely different system designs of solar cooling and SolarCombiPlus systems, a component based test approach, such as the CTSS-method (component testing - system simulation) was found to be the most promising approach.