Performance analysis on a new type of solar air conditioning system

► Using heat pump technology. ► Improve the solar energy application grade. ► Calculate the performance of the new system. ► Analyze the influence factors. A new system of solar air-conditioning, which adds the heat pump into the original solar air-conditioning, is proposed in order to improve the solar energy application grade. The new type of solar air-conditioning system is analyzed and compared with the original system. Calculations show that: (1) when the sun radiation intensity is high (0.8kW/m2), the cooling capacity of the new system is 1.7 times the original system under the given conditions of this paper. When the sun radiation intensity is low (0.2kW/m2), the cooling capacity of the new system is decreased by 70% compared to high radiation intensity conditions, and the original system could not provide refrigeration. (2) In a certain solar radiation intensity, new type solar air-conditioning system reduces the requirement of a high efficiency solar collection system (SCS). At a certain collector efficiency, it can operate stably by adjusting the water mass flow rate of SCS under different solar radiation intensities. (3) For the heat pump system (HPS) of the new type solar system, under the same rage of evaporation temperature and condensation temperature, R600a HPS has higher COP and less power consumption than R134a HPS under obtaining same cooling capacity condition.