Feasibility of solar absorption air conditioning in Tunisia

Due to the high cost of fossil fuels and the environmental problems caused by the extensive use of air-conditioning systems for both residential and industrial buildings, the use of solar energy to drive cooling cycles becomes attractive since the cooling load is roughly in phase with solar energy availability particularly in Tunisia. In this paper, we present a research project aiming at assessing the feasibility of solar-powered absorption cooling technology under Tunisian conditions. Simulations using the TRNSYS and EES programs with a meteorological year data file containing the weather parameters of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, were carried out in order to select and size the different components of the solar system to be installed. The optimized system for a typical building of 150 m2 is composed of a water lithium bromide absorption chiller of a capacity of 11 kW, a 30 m2 flat plate solar collector area tilted 35° from the horizontal and a 0.8 m3 hot water storage tank.