Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Hybrid Solar Cooling Systems Driven by Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Collectors—Case Study: Greenhouses of Andalusia

Abstract

Sustainable greenhouses have gained relevance in recent years due to their potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the agricultural sector by being integrated with renewable systems, contributing to the decarbonization of energy. Although solar technologies tend to be more accessible to cover the system’s energy demands, greenhouses are subject to installation area restrictions, limiting their energy potential. This research evaluates the energy advantages of hybridizing solar thermal collector fields with photovoltaic module fields to cover a greenhouse’s cooling and heating demands. For this purpose, the solar thermal field and the photovoltaic solar system were simulated with TRNSYS and MATLAB, respectively, while a method was developed to simulate the performance of a single-effect absorption chiller that was validated using the temperature measurements of a chiller in operation. The results show that the general method maintains differences between measurements and simulation smaller than 5% with set temperatures between 5.5 and 12 degrees Celsius. The hybrid system, with an air-to-water chiller as the main machine and absorption chiller, reached a solar fraction of 0.85 and a fractional energy saving of 83%. This represents a 27% reduction in area concerning an individual solar thermal system. This research highlights that the solar hybrid configuration reduces fossil energy consumption by improving the global efficiency of energy conversion, thereby reducing the area of the solar field.

Advancing the Industrial Sector Energy Transition with Hybrid Solar Systems: Evaluation of Small Winemaking in Ecuador

“…The ABCH is simulated in TRNSYS using TYPE-117, considering equipment with a nominal capacity ranging from 17.7 kW to 105 kW of the YAZAKI catalog [30]. The detailed methodology of the validation of each component in the systems is described in [23].…”

“…Solar hybrid (HYB) systems integrated with ST and PV to drive an ABCH and AWCH have been evaluated energetically, comprising individual ST and PV solar fields to drive an ABCH and AWCH. In this sense, the HYB systems to supply cooling, heat, and electricity have been evaluated for greenhouse crops production in Spain, achieving a solar fraction (SF) of 0.85, which represents a reduction of 27% compared to an individual ST-ABCH system and a fractional energy saving ( f sav ) of 83% [23]. The HYB systems have an important potential to be applied in the industrial sector for heat and cooling processes with FPC and PV technologies.…”