Tokyo Gas to Test High-Efficiency Solar Air Conditioning System

Tokyo Gas Co., a major natural gas utility in Japan, started to test a high-efficiency solar air conditioning system in April 2009. The air conditioning unit utilizes the heat collected in a solar collector for cooling in summer and heating in winter.

The system uses the heat from solar collectors with a collection efficiency (ratio of the solar heat collected to the solar radiation) of 60-70 percent. The system, which uses a solar-heated, highly-efficient absorption chiller-heater, converts the heat into cold energy for cooling in summer, and the system uses the heat directly for heating in winter. The company also plans to incorporate its proprietary optimal integrated control system to use solar heat first under changing weather conditions and air conditioning load.

The company intends to install the system on the roof of its existing office building to test and verify energy conservation performance, and accumulate engineering know-how. After introducing the system, the company expects to reduce consumption of primary energy by about 20 percent and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by about 18 percent, and aims at commercialization and distribution of the system by fiscal 2010.

Reducing CO2 by Low-cost Solar Hot Water System Located in Condominium Veranda (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028584.html
Tokyo Gas Co. official website
http://www.tokyo-gas.co.jp/index_e.html

Posted: 2009/05/31 06:00:15 AM