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Applied Sciences
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Low Carbon Systems for Cooling of Building in Emerging Markets
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Low Carbon Systems for Cooling of Building in Emerging Markets

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2021) | Viewed by 6661

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Marco Beccali

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo PA, Italy
Interests: renewable energies; solar heating and cooling, efficient lighting; building physics; energy planning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marina Bonomolo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo PA, Italy
Interests: renewable energies; efficient lighting; building physics; energy planning; building automation systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The building sector represents almost a third of global final energy consumption, including energy for hot water, heating, and cooling. Energy consumption for space cooling is primarily dependent on electricity and to a lesser extent natural gas, so it is also associated with a high carbon load. The continued growth of demand for air conditioners is one of the most critical blind spots in today’s energy debate. Together with the development of cities, population growth, reduction of fossil fuel resources, environmental pollution, and common obsolete systems, air conditioners play a significant role in the increase of global temperatures caused by the effects of climate change, which is particularly important to note because their use, as declared by IEA, will continue to grow exponentially in the future, seeing a jump from 1.2 billion Residential/ Room Air Conditioners (RACs) in the world today to a projected 4.5 billion by 2050, mainly in the Middle/Far East areas. RACs alone could add about 132 GT of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) emissions cumulatively between now and 2050, resulting in over 0.5 °C of global warming by the year 2100. Whilst access to cooling provides benefits to human health, wellbeing, and productivity and is increasingly viewed as a societal need, it comes at an environmental cost that we simply cannot afford. A specific Innovation Challenge (IC7) of the Mission Innovation program is focused on this topic.

The Special Issue will collect research and studies on affordable solutions for cooling systems for buildings suitable to fulfill the demand for comfort arising from a huge number of new users, mainly living in hot and humid regions. They must be characterized by the use of innovative processes, new materials, as well as smart operation controls.

Innovative technologies should deal with efficient use of electricity as well as the exploitation of other energy vectors (i.e., heat, gas).

Research has to clearly demonstrate the sustainability (reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions) and cost-effectiveness of solutions.

Topics for this Special Issue include but are not limited to the following:

  • Solar cooling systems for residential applications in hot and humid climates;
  • Heat-driven chillers of small/medium sizes;
  • Evaporative cooling (technologies and potential application);
  • PV driven air conditioners;
  • Reversible heat pumps for hot and humid climates;
  • Compact hot and cold storage devices;
  • New and traditional materials for refrigeration cycles and heat storage;
  • ICT applications for heating and cooling systems;
  • Demand/response schemes and applications for residential users;
  • Advanced controls for innovative HVAC systems.
Prof. Dr. PhD Marco Beccali
Dr. PhD Marina Bonomolo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • low carbon cooling system
  • solar energy
  • renewable sources
  • energy efficiency

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1711 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Coupling PV and Air Conditioning vs. Solar Cooling Systems—Case Study from Jordan
by Aiman Albatayneh, Mustafa Jaradat, Murad Al-Omary and Maha Zaquot
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(2), 511; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11020511 - 06 Jan 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3728
Abstract
When they were first conceived, solar cooling systems were designed to be cost-effective and environmentally safe alternatives for the majority of the developing nations that are characterised by their hot climates in contrast with the traditional air conditioning systems powered by electricity that [...] Read more.
When they were first conceived, solar cooling systems were designed to be cost-effective and environmentally safe alternatives for the majority of the developing nations that are characterised by their hot climates in contrast with the traditional air conditioning systems powered by electricity that is produced from fossil fuel resources. Nevertheless, developments in photovoltaic (PV) and air-conditioning technologies have impacted on the prospects of solar cooling systems. This study examined two different options: a coupled PV and air conditioner system and a solar cooling system (absorption chillers where thermal energy is provided by solar collectors) for a specific developing country located in the Eastern Mediterranean region whose climate is hot and dry (Jordan). The cooling system comprised a pair of cooled multistage compression, both of which were 700 kW, while the PV system’s size was 2.1 MWp, the utility grid connection was a 0.4 kV 50 Hz net meter (2 m) and it was anticipated that 3300 MWh/year would be generated. The solar cooling system operated at a maximum coefficient of performance (COP) of 0.79 and had an actual recorded COP of 0.32 on the site; when the electricity tariff of $0.1/kWh was considered, the respective levelised cost of energy (LCOE) values were $0.9/kWh and $2.35/kWh respectively. The findings indicate that the initial costs for the solar thermal cooling system and the PV system were approximately $3.150M and $3M, respectively. The current value of future cash payments when discounts of 6% per year were applied to the payments for the combination of PV and air conditioning was about $9,745,000, whereas the solar thermal cooling system will not reach the breakeven point at negative $1,730,000. It is clear the absorption chiller did not display economic feasibility, whereas the value for the coupled PV and air-conditioning systems was under $0.05/kWh. In addition to the extensive maintenance needs, the reduced COP and the practicality and feasibility of the solar thermal cooling systems mean these kinds of technologies are under significant pressure to remain competitive when faced with the development of new air conditioning and PV technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Carbon Systems for Cooling of Building in Emerging Markets)
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24 pages, 7947 KiB  
Article
Solar and Heat Pump Systems for Domestic Hot Water Production on a Small Island: The Case Study of Lampedusa
by Marco Beccali, Marina Bonomolo, Biagio Di Pietra, Giuliana Leone and Francesca Martorana
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(17), 5968; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10175968 - 28 Aug 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2197
Abstract
The achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, related to energy and resource use, is a critical issue for small and insulated communities. In many minor islands, solar energy is not correctly exploited, and electrical heaters are connected to weak grids with very [...] Read more.
The achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, related to energy and resource use, is a critical issue for small and insulated communities. In many minor islands, solar energy is not correctly exploited, and electrical heaters are connected to weak grids with very a high share of generation by fossil fuels. As a consequence, there is the necessity to assess the potential and the suitability of diffusion of alternative systems to avoid dependency on the electrical grid and reduce carbon emissions. This paper aims to evaluate the technical and economic performances of some alternative systems exploiting renewable energy for domestic hot water production. Four different systems were simulated and studied: a heat pump connected to the grid, a heat pump coupled with a photovoltaic plant, a heat pump combined with a solar thermal collector, and a solar thermal plant. Moreover, heat and electricity storages were studied for reducing impacts on the distribution network. The work presents data gathered for a study on energy-retrofit strategies on Lampedusa Island (Italy, 35°30′56″ north (N), 568 degree-days). Finally, to select the most cost-effective plant, an economic analysis of the chosen systems was carried out. This analysis shows that the best net present values are associated with the heat pump (HP) coupled with a stand-alone PV system and a small battery and solar thermal-assisted HP. The shortest payback time was calculated for the solar thermal system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Carbon Systems for Cooling of Building in Emerging Markets)
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