Solar Combi+

The combined use of solar energy for heating and cooling has the potential to upgrade solar thermal energy from a mainly domestic hot water provider to a major building energy supplier. Up to now the necessary sorption chillers were only available in a higher power range (>100 kW). The new small-scale sorption chillers will open the market for small applications, which make up for the major part of the heating and a constantly growing part of the cooling demand in Europe. Thus, accelerating and smoothing the market entry of small scale Solar Combi⁺ systems, the project will contribute considerably to achieving important energy policy goals of the European Union; in particular relating to the share of renewable energies and the security of energy supply in the European Union. Furthermore the project supports the market entry of a technology where a group of European enterprises has a favourable starting point for international leadership.

To identify standard system configurations and most promising applications, in this project virtual case studies will be performed, where promising system configurations are defined (based on a thorough analysis of the market) and validated by simulations and economical and ecological ratings for different typical conditions (i.e. utilization, climate, building type).

The participation of all European producers of small-scale solar-driven sorption chillers as direct partners as well as the declaration of interest of the solar thermal industry, shows the importance of the project for a smooth and sustainable market entry of SolarCombi⁺ systems.

Further projects on Solar Cooling: Solair, High Combi