Proposal of a Colombian Refrigeration Potential Map Based on Solar Powered Absorption Cooling Systems

Half of the territory in Colombia is not connected to the electrical grid; this means that almost 2 million people [Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio “ZONAS NO INTERCONECTADAS - ZNI Diagnóstico de la prestación del servicio de energía eléctrica 2017 Superintendencia Delegada para Energía y Gas Combustible,” no 1, p 74, 2017] live without or with limited access to electricity. In view of the fact that most people in those areas live from fishing, livestock, agriculture, and tourism. Access to cooling systems can improve life quality and economic prosperity in these regions. Solar powered absorption systems are a viable means to bring cooling to the non-interconnected zones of the country, as they nearly don’t use electricity and rely mostly on heat to function. This heat can be harnessed from the sun by using solar collectors, thus making these systems renewable and independent from the grid. The tropical location of the country means that within the territory, there is a very diverse mixture of different climatic conditions that can affect the performance of the systems. This research focuses on detailing the viability of solar powered absorption cooling on the Colombian territory, presenting the results in the form of maximum amount of cooling achieved and system efficiency maps.