Simulation based energy consumption calculation of an office building using solar-assisted air conditioning

To minimize environmental impact and CO2 production associated with air-conditioning system operation, it is reasonable to evaluate the prospects of a clean energy source. The targets of the study are to evaluate cooling energy consumption to maintain thermal comfort in an office building and to point out solar energy to satisfy these cooling needs. Simulations were carried out with three different cooling systems in the same operating conditions to determine as accurately as possible the potential use of solar energy. For comparison purpose, the base case is a classical air-conditioning system (heat pump for cooling, gas boiler for heating). Two other configurations were simulated: a classical vapour compression system fed by photovoltaic panels and electricity grid as back-up and, absorption chiller fed by solar thermal panel field and by gas boiler. In the three chosen locations (Paris, Lisbon and Stockholm), results shown that installing photovoltaic panels on the roof is really interesting from the primary energy consumption point of view.