Sustainable Cooling
Background
Countries that fall under the category of 'Hot, humid & tropical' need cooling solutions for buildings, homes and other places that will enable people to stay at a comfortable temperature indoors when the sun is blazing outside. Most of these cooling solutions are air-conditioners based on vapour compression technology and come with extremely high energy costs, viz. electricity costs. This section looks into ways and means of making cooling solutions sustainable, environmentally friendly and low cost. The first approach is by making use of renewable or residual heat in driving a thermally driven cooling system wherever possible and the second approach is to look at retrofit solutions that will increase the efficiency of the air-conditioning system.
Key research/technology questions:
Can we make use of heat (from solar especially) to generate cooling?
How easy/complicated is it to build such systems?
Why are these systems not widely deployed?
What retrofit solutions work?
Brief summary
How can thermal energy (or heat) be transported effectively?
How can thermally driven cooling systems be realised?
What are the ways and means to tap renewable & residual heat?
How can heat driven cooling systems reduce energy demand and in turn CO2 emissions?
Solutions & Technology
Heat Pipes and heat pipe networks are key in transporting thermal energy from source to sink. Read about the role heat pipes will play in realisation of thermally driven cooling systems.
Practical Solutions to reduce AC energy use
Brief summary
In hot and tropical regions, residential air conditioning is becoming essential for comfort. However, split and window air conditioners rely entirely on electricity, resulting in high energy consumption, rising utility costs, and increased strain on the power grid.
The Indian market
Replaces AC units every 7-10 years
Does not redesign building airflow
Accepts outdoor unit modifications
Is highly price sensitive
Solutions & Technology
Read about the practical retrofit solutions that VenkaCon Consulting is developing in order to reduce the energy required for cooling while remaining compatible with millions of AC units already installed in homes in India.
Note: These solutions can be expanded to other similar markets as well
SOLUTION 1
SOLUTION 2
SOLUTION 3