Design and adaptability of photovoltaic air conditioning system based on office buildings

Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) air conditioning (AC) is an effective way to solve the problems of energy consumption of office buildings. In this study, a set of parameters were designed for PV AC, including PV capacity, AC parameter, and inverter parameter. Then, the parameters were applied to a 20-m2 office building, and a PV AC system test platform was built. The test lasted for one year; the corresponding data including typical daily data and annual data were collected and analyzed. The results show that the PV AC system quickly decreases or increases the room temperature by ~9.5% and 17% in 1 h of cooling and heating periods, respectively, thus maintaining the room temperature within the set temperature range of ±0.9 °C. The data also show that by proper design of parameters, a PV AC system can satisfy the electricity demand of AC. In the cooling period, heating period, and annual operation conditions, the PV system provided 114%, 73%, and 188% of the energy for the AC system, respectively. Next, economic calculations show that PV AC is suitable for office buildings. The local payback period is only 7.5 years; both the energy saving and emission reduction are significant.