Perspectives of solar cooling in view of the developments in the air-conditioning sector

Changes in the standards of thermal comfort in the urban microclimate and in the capital cost of air-conditioning equipment have drastically increased the energy consumption in the building sector over the last decade. At the same time, the integration of renewable energy systems, mainly active solar ones, in buildings has been an area of intense research over the last 30 years. This has also been the case in the field of solar refrigeration, mainly in the field of sorption systems. The analysis discussed in the paper is focused on the state of the art of thermal solar systems use and on the possibilities of combining those with state of the art technologies in sorption refrigeration, in order to cover the cooling demand of residential and commercial buildings. This was done by assessing the available solar and refrigeration technologies as well as by highlighting the situation in the building market, as this is still the dominant factor for the propagation of such systems.