This course will introduce you to solar-powered cooling systems for buildings. You will learn about absorption cooling systems, Rankine cycle heat engine cooling systems, desiccant cooling, and other solar-powered systems having potential for commercial applications. You will be introduced to the fundamentals of system sizing, controls, piping, pumps and valves, and solar collectors.

Learning Objectives

• Learn when solar cooling may be practicable and cost-effective, and when it is unlikely to be so.
• Learn about the two refrigerant combinations that have been used most successfully in solar-powered absorption cooling systems.
• Learn the advantages the Rankine cycle heat engine has over the Stirling and Brayton cycle heat engines for solar cooling.
• Learn how the type of collector used affects and limits the design of solar-powered absorption systems.
• Learn how the means of delivery of the heated fluid to the absorption cooler affects and limits the design of solar-powered absorption systems.
• Learn why an absorption cooler that relies on on-off cycling for temperature control has a drastically reduced average coefficient of performance.
• Learn why a cooling tower is usually required as an element in a solar-powered absorption cooling system.
• Learn the fundamental difference between the closed-cycle absorption and Rankine systems, and an open-cycle desiccant system.
• Learn about the differences between a ventilation-mode desiccant system and a recirculation-mode desiccant system.
• Learn about other cooling methods that utilize solar heating equipment, but do not utilize the solar energy directly for cooling.