The interest in solar cooling systems prevails since several decades. Some hundred systems have been installed all over the world.

Jan Albers and colleagues, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, think that it is very probable that collectors with an efficient output at 100 – 150 °C will be available in the near future at decent cost. However, even under these – from the solar side – favorable circumstances real energy savings will only be harvested by using high-efficient chillers. Consequently, innovations are especially to be awaited from the chiller side. Of course, several competing concepts will find their way to application. In particular a combination with room heating in winter should be considered carefully in their opinion. It will render the chiller installation much more cost competitive.

• Development and Progress in Solar Cooling Technologies with Sorption Systems,
  Jan Albers, Annett Kühn, Stefan Petersen, Felix Ziegler,
  Chem. Ing. Tech. 2011, 83 (11), 1853–1863.
  DOI: 10.1002/cite.201100116