SIMULATION AS A DESIGN TOOL FOR SOLAR COOLING SYSTEMS IN HUMID, TROPICAL CLIMATES

This paper presents an optimised solar cooling system design for residential scale buildings in humid climates. A full simulation model was developed to study the key parameters for a 5 kW ammonia-water absorption cooling system. The system was modelled specifically to take into account the humidity of the air and its effects on system efficiency. In the field of solar cooling, humidity is not frequently studied, but it quite significantly affects system performance. In this study, it was found that if moisture is taken into account, 20 m of collectors and 0.6 ଷ of both hot and cold-water tank storage are needed. Thus, a larger collector array is required than reported in frequent studies which rarely consider humidity.