A solar cooling project for hot and humid climates

This paper presents a solar house built in a southern city of China where the summer is long, hot and humid. The house was designed appropriately for the climate and was constructed with local building materials where possible. A multifunctional solar system was used and a method for indoor ventilation was proposed. The design included double walls and a triple roof in order to remove heat by ventilation of the building envelope. The external walls were clad with unglazed bricks to allow evaporative cooling. The house has been monitored since completion and more than one year of data is available. Analysis of the monitored data shows that the solar techniques proposed in this design are effective in a hot and humid climate. Effective ventilation strategies for the improvement of thermal comfort are also discussed.