Solar Air Conditioner System

Modern society is characterized by high consumption of energy to maintain current living standards. The energy consumed in various forms including electricity for lighting, fuel for vehicles, and even to produce the heat required in industrial processes.

A source of high practical potential energy is the sun. With solar energy you can produce electricity directly using photovoltaic panels, a fluid can be heated to high temperatures by concentrating light in a small area and even can be used to desalinate sea water in places where drinking water is scarce.

In short, the energy uses are limited only by the capacity of our imagination.
Most countries in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, have the peculiarity of lack of fossil resources to produce energy and being rich in solar energy.

However, in our countries have not taken advantage of this valuable resource to reduce energy consumption in a friendly way to turn the environment and renewable.

An interdisciplinary team of teachers and students of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (RUM) has been given the task of bringing to the stage of marketing a system capable of providing air conditioning for buildings using solar energy. This interdisciplinary project is being sponsored by several government agencies, state and federal and several local private industries. The research team RUM charge of the project is composed of teachers and students of the Departments of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Business Administration.

Motivated by the high energy consumption in the Island for purposes of conditioning and air dehumidificar, which sometimes reaches 50% in some sectors of our society, Dr. Jorge E. Gonzalez, principal investigator, initiated the first studies for this project in 1994. This high energy consumption in air conditioning is characteristic of tropical climates.

Interestingly, the main component of air-conditioning system assisted by solar energy does not require the use of compressors or refrigerants harmful to the environment as fluorocarbons which are the main cause of degradation of the ozone layer. This system works by using an absorption cycle. The machine receives the heat absorption of solar energy through the water that is heated by high-efficiency solar heaters, this water is the energy required to operate a refrigeration cycle within the absorption machine, and with the help of a couple of additional items, we provides water to 44 degrees.

The research team has shown RUM technical feasibility of this system under the bright sun of the area of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, where it has been installed and successfully operated a system that cools the building demonstrative Federal Wildlife Refuge and Poultry and insatala also the first commercial system installations Universal Solar Products in Hato Rey.

As a complement to the system of solar air conditioner, the team of researchers from the RUM is also working on the development of passive and active systems that help reduce internal temperatures in buildings. It is expected that these systems are available on the market soon.

These projects are developed on the basis of a consortium with native companies Universal Solar Products and A / C & Mechanical Services. Universal Solar Products is one of the largest companies in the manufacturing of solar heaters in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, while the A / C & Mechanical Services is responsible for the implementation and marketing.

This consortium is being sponsored by the State Government through the Energy Affairs Administration, under the Department of Energy. The consortium hopes to have some products on the market by the end of the year 2000. Specifically it is expected that solar air conditioning system may be available to businesses and industries soon. The product cost will be approximately $ 7,000 per ton installed. Although this cost can be up to three times the cost of a conventional sitem, the savings in electricity recover the initial investment will allow a maximum of five years.

Although the solar air conditioner system is being developed in Puerto Rico, Universal Solar Products and RUM research team are confident that the product has a broad application in the Caribbean area, given the similar climatic conditions and the high economic development the region. Dr. Jorge E. Gonzalez, principal investigator RUM team, says one of the advantages of solar technologies is its easy adaptability to other places with similar climatic conditions.

In addition, to Moises Almansa, president of Universal Solar Products, the Caribbean is an area of high development in tourism and industry, and their energy needs and comfort, are identical to ours so they should be very acceptable for anyone of these technologies.