Exergoeconomic-optimized design of a solar absorption-subcooled compression hybrid cooling system for use in low-rise buildings.

An optimized design for a solar absorption-subcooled compression hybrid cooling system used in low-rise buildings is complicated because of the overall considerations involving increases in investment costs and energy savings, which are associated with an increase in the size of the absorption subsystem. To this end, this paper’s main contribution lies in its exergoeconomic-optimized design of a solar absorption-subcooled compression hybrid cooling system employed in low-rise buildings for different design cases. In this paper, not only the minimum product-cost flow rate but also the lowest relative cost difference is taken as the objective function owing to the notable changes in fuel cost flow rates. The results of the exergoeconomic optimization shows that the actual cooling capacity of the absorption subsystem should not be designed based only on the maximum collector area. Instead, the actual installed collector area should be determined by the optimal cooling capacity of the absorption subsystem. It was also found that the optimal cooling capacity of the absorption subsystem strongly depends on solar irradiance and cooling demands. In addition, optimal sizes for the absorption subsystem should be designed according to the different minimum product cost flow rates or the lowest relative cost difference, and this difference is sensitive to the local mean solar irradiance but weakly relies on the cooling demand. The paper is helpful in its cost-effective design for a solar absorption-subcooled compression hybrid cooling system used in low-rise buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]