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Solar cooling systems are a promising solution for reducing the electrical consumption of conventional building cooling systems. Among various alternatives, photovoltaic driven vapour compression chillers are currently the most mature and economically feasible solar cooling technology. This study focuses on the semi-dynamic modelling of a vapour compression chiller coupled with a novel refrigerant-phase change material (PCM)-water heat exchanger (RPW-HEX) which replaces the conventional chiller's evaporator, allowing the efficient storage of the produced cooling energy. A custom-build lumped parameter model was developed in TRNSYS and was used to assess the performance of the proposed system on annual basis. Using as benchmark a conventional PV driven vapour compression chiller with electrical storage, the retrofitted hybrid storage system showed improved performance, limiting the cooling demand peaks and enhancing the solar fraction, especially for partial cooling loads. Last, a comparison of the PCM thermal energy storage to conventional batteries was carried out, leading to enhanced performance characteristics for the latter.

Increasing the energy efficiency of residential and non-residential buildings is a crucial point towards the development of the sustainable cities of the future. To reach such a goal, the commonly employed intervention measures (for instance, on facades and glass) are not sufficient and efforts in reaching a fully renewable energy generation are mandatory. In this context, this paper discusses the applicability of a system with solar and biomass as the main energy sources in different climates for heating, cooling, domestic hot water and electricity generation in office buildings. The energy system includes solar thermal collectors with thermoelectric generators, a biomass boiler, a reversible heat pump/organic Rankine cycle and an adsorption chiller. The results showed that the system can operate with a share of renewables higher than 70% for all energy needs, with up to 80% of the overall energy demand supplied only by solar and biomass sources even in the northern locations.

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