Dual Source Solar Powered Combined-Cycle Multi-Temperature Refrigeration System for Cold Production in the Context of Off-Grid and Rural Energy Access

Abstract

It is proposed and analyzed the coupling of a dual source solar PV & T with a combined compression/ejection multitemperature refrigeration cycle intended for the simultaneous production of cold for refrigeration and freezing, in the context of off-grid and rural energy access. The developed simulation model helped to perform the system performances for environment friendly refrigerants R290, R152a and R134a. It is shown that for a 1.5 kW domestic fridge-freezer applications, using the developed system should require surface area PV panels and 3.1 m2 surface areas solar collector; while equipping a 15kW multi-temperature cold room with this system leads to 44 m2 surface area PV panels and 31 m2 surface area solar collector. In addition to the effect of the incident solar irradiance, the influence of the ambient temperature on system performance was also analyzed when using a flatplate solar collector