Energetic evaluation of thermal energy storage options for high efficiency solar cooling systems

Thermal energy storage (TES) plays an important role in ensuring continuous heat supply to solar powered thermal systems such as solar cooling plants. Various sensible and latent heat storage material options are available when designing a solar cooling system. Latent heat materials are known to have higher energy density resulting in lower storage volume. However, it is unclear if there are any energy benefits due to these materials while used in a typical solar cooling application. In this paper we investigate the system performance of different storage materials while delivering cooling to a typical commercial building in Australia. This system uses high efficiency triple effect absorption chiller as the cooling delivery system. Heat requirement for this chiller is provided through parabolic trough collectors delivering heat over 200°C.