The major advantage of utilizing solar thermal energy is in the summer when the heat load of the air conditioning system is at its peak, the amount of hot water produced by solar energy also increases, and therefore electrical consumption can be minimized by applying Solar Cooling solutions. Absorption chillers can also utilize other waste heat sources such as that from a boiler of a factory.
A conventional electric chiller runs on the vapor compression cycle. The pressure at the evaporator is very low causing the incoming refrigerant to boil and vaporize absorbing the heat from the chilled water entering the evaporator.
The vapor enters the electric compressor where it is pressurized and sent to the condenser. Once the vapor has been pressurized, the vapor can condense at a temperature of around 30°C – 35°C, allowing the circulating cooling water to remove the heat from the condenser. The condensed refrigerant now goes through an expansion valve where its pressure is reduced again such that it can boil off at the evaporator to repeat the cycle.