TY - JOUR
TI - Performance assessment of a solar assisted desiccant cooling system
AU - Gagliano Antonio
AU - Patania Francesco
AU - Nocera Francesco
AU - Galesi Aldo
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2014
VL - 18
IS - 2
SP - 563
EP - 576
PT - Article
AB - The use of solar energy to drive cooling applications, such as air  conditioning is attractive since the cooling load has a high coincidence with  the availability of solar irradiation. Combination of solar thermal and  cooling has a high potential to reduce the electricity consumption of  conventional air conditioning. This work delivers a description of solar  desiccant solid system (DECs) and presents results of tests and performance  analysis. The overall cooling efficiency is evaluated using simulation data  typical of Mediterranean Region. In this context the autonomous operations  both of a solar desiccant system (DEC) and an absorption refrigerant (AR)  chillers powered by direct-flow vacuum-tube collectors are investigated. It  is found out that the DEC system can achieve a primary energy saving (PES) of  around 40%, compared to an AR and of around 150% compared to a conventional  vapour compressor refrigerator (VCR).