| Summary: | Heating and cooling currently accounts for approximately half of the world’s primary energy consumption. Since the most common technologies used today for generating heat and cooling are heavily contributing to increased emissions, the possibility of converting these technologies into renewable ones needs to be investigated. This study aims to investigate, design, and simulate several solar cooling systems driven by heat generated from concentrating solar collectors. Research was mainly executed through literature studies. Mapping of the influencing factors for solar cooling systems has also been carried out. The identified essential influencing factors were selection of components, application area and geographical positioning. Main components of solar cooling systems were thoroughly described in the theory chapter and a practical application was chosen to exemplify how solar cooling systems can be designed for different geographical regions. Simulations with the designed systems were performed through the software PISTACHE in order to study different systems performance. Discoveries made through simulations showed that double effect absorption pumps tended to be more beneficial in sunnier regions whilst single effect absorption pumps showed opposite results, at least from a performance standpoint. Furthermore, performance seemed to decline in less sunny regions which meant that more solar collectors were required to meet the given cooling demand. One major conclusion that could be drawn was that solar cooling systems equipped with parabolic troughs more beneficially could be implemented in regions with approximate levels of direct normal irradiance above 2200 kWh/m2 per year.
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