Scientists in China Establish a PV-driven AC Using Ice Thermal Storage Space

• Researchers in China from the Yunnan Normal University and the Jiaxing University have developed a PV-powered ac system that utilizes ice thermal storage rather than batteries to store power.

The design of the air conditioning system, straight driven by distributed solar PV, was examined, as well as an MPPT controller was created to effectively use solar power. A variable speed compressor was located suited for PV driven air conditioning.

A paper qualified "Research study on matching qualities of photovoltaic disturbance and refrigeration compressor in solar photovoltaic direct-drive a/c system," published in the July version of the journal Renewable Energy, includes the outcomes of their experiments. The paper was co-written by Guoliang Li, Youhua Han, Ming Li, Xi Luo, Yongfeng Xu, Yunfeng Wang, as well as Ying Zhang.

The paper provides a 3 HP solar direct-drive photovoltaic a/c system which operates without batteries, and also uses ice thermal storage space instead to store solar energy. The refrigeration compressor struggles with loss of power, can not also startup or shut down, if the PV power generation suddenly rises and fall.

According to the researchers, in case of solar radiation fluctuations, the system can be maintained running constantly and continuously with an appropriate layout which matches the power consumption of the solar air conditioning system with a correct PV ability, as well as a flexible controller with a matched compressor concurrently.

For this experiment, solar ac unit with various ability of PV panel, with and also without MPPT controller as well as different types compressors, were constructed and also checked outdoors to explore the matching attributes of solar disruption and also refrigeration compressor.

The experimental results of the system with a variable rate compressor as well as a MPPT controller have shown excellent ice-making efficiency and reputable operation along with a terrific enhancement in the offered solar energy. The highest system COP got to 0.289 when the cumulative everyday total amount radiation was 18.2 MJ/m2 in Kunming, China.

The researchers believe that their work shows that the direct drive ice storage space by solar photovoltaic or pv system has a specific application prospect in the areas where the power is limited but calling for cooling.