Solar PV-powered Room Air Conditioning: Market Trends and Techno-economic potential

Current air conditioning practices significantly contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The new study “Solar PV-powered Room Air Conditioning: Market trends and techno-economic potential” is an update to a 2022 study on the topic and highlights the potential of renewable energy sources. The combination of using renewables, energy efficient air conditioners and climate-friendly natural refrigerants for a truly Green Cooling has a great potential to meeting the Paris Agreement. With the declining costs of solar PV and energy storage equipment and improvements in AC technologies, solar-powered cooling is becoming increasingly viable both technologically and economically.

In this webinar we will delve into the technical and economic potential of solar PV-powered green air conditioners, focusing on single split-type air conditioning systems with a cooling capacity of up to 5 kW for residential and small commercial application. We will discuss hybrid and off-grid solutions, and analyze these cases across 17 countries using Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Net Present Value (NPV) metrics. A case study using ice storage instead of battery storage will also be presented. This webinar aims to foster further development in the promising yet nascent PV AC market and inspire continued research and practical applications.