Experimental Investigation of Solar Powered Vapor Compression Air Conditioner with Indian Climatic Condition

Abstract

The demand for air conditioning increases every day due to global warming, increase of working hours, special applications in hospitals such as operation theater, critical care unit and intensive care unit, etc. As expectations of comfort conditions increase, air conditioning system becomes one of the major electric power consumption appliances both domestically and commercially worldwide. In recent years, the progress of solar energy applications in air conditioning has increased significantly due to its renewability, eco-friendly, fast depletion of fossil fuel reserves and low cost. Moreover, solar air-conditioning system is highly useful in non-electrified remote regions in India. Therefore, present study is focused on design and development of a direct current, 1 Ton capacity air conditioner integrated with photovoltaic solar panel including charger, inverter, and batteries. The performance was analyzed by coefficient of performance. The proposed air conditioner gave COP of 2.3 to 3.3 with cost saving of up to 25%.