Performance analysis with future predictions of different solar cooling systems in Guayaquil, Ecuador

This paper presents a comparative analysis of three different solar cooling system configurations developed for a case study building in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Guayaquil is a city located at the Ecuadorian coast with an average annual temperature of 25°C. The city's need for air conditioning throughout the year and the relatively intense solar radiation provide a great opportunity for implementation of solar cooling systems. The first cooling system includes a 175 kWc singleeffect absorption chiller powered by evacuated tubes solar thermal collectors. This system was compared with two 140 kWc compression chiller systems (air-cooled (AC) and water-cooled (WC)) powered by grid-connected photovoltaics. Both constant flow rate (CFR) and variable flow rate (VFR) of chilled water were analyzed. The three systems have to satisfy a cooling demand of the top floor in one governmental building (app. 1296 m²) which was selected as case study. Additionally, two 140 kWc conventional compression chiller systems (AC and WC) were included in the comparison as reference systems. Cooling demand of the building was simulated in EnergyPlus and coupled with the appropriate system configurations developed in TRNSYS. The weather file (TMY) was developed based on real meteorological data collected in the last decade. The present analysis was extended with the prediction scenarios for the years 2020, 2050 and 2080 using climate change adapted weather files.