Small Capacity Solar Cooling: Two Systems Installed in the Frame of the Project “Solera”
Abstract
Two solar cooling systems were installed recently in the frame of the EC co-funded project “SOLERA” . A 4.5 kW absorption chiller from the Spanish company Rotartica was installed at the premises of the Institut National de l’Energie Solaire (INES) in Chambery, France. A solar system of the French company Clipsol provides the driving heat and a horizontal ground heat exchanger is used as a heat rejection unit. The system is in operation since summer 2008 and is used for heating and cooling. A second system with 17.6kW cooling power (Yazaki WFC-SC5), 61.6m² of flat plate collectors (Riello, Italy) and a 5m³ buffer storage was installed at the premises of the company Riello close to Venice in Italy. The system provides cooling for an office building of the partner Riello. A particular feature of this system is the use of an electric driven reversible heat pump as back-up system both heating and cooling. This system is in operation since December 2009. The first operation results of the first system are presented in this paper. We give special attention to the solar contributions for heating and cooling as well as the electricity consumption of different elements and the whole system.