Quality Level Assessment of Sorption Chillers Installed in Solar Cooling Plants

Abstract The use of reliable, representative and reproducible data for the assessment of the quality level of HVAC systems and components on seasonal basis is crucial especially in view of the obligation of energy labelling, which is due by September 2015, and of the market surveillance. An analysis on the current normative framework dedicated to sorption chiller has revealed that no exhaustive references for sorption technologies and applications exist. Therefore, two test procedures aimed at the mapping of performances of sorption chillers at full and part load have been developed. The procedures developed take into account also different machines operating modes (i.e. continuous and discontinuous). A first attempt of validation of the test procedures has been carried out and here presented

Quality for Solar Cooling on Component Level

Within IEA-SHC Task 48 “Quality assurance and support measures for Solar Cooling” the most crucial components of solar thermal cooling plants have been analyzed in detail aiming at improving their quality. Test procedures for characterizing continuous and discontinuous chillers have been developed; market available heat rejection devices have been investigated, rating their performance through monitoring data and comparing them; pump efficiency has been also investigated and design guidelines for pump selection and hydraulic configuration are now available; a detailed and updated database of medium temperature collectors has been built