Air conditioning contributes significantly to the energy consumption of buildings in many countries. A promising possibility for energy reduction is the use of solar thermal energy in solar-assisted air conditioning systems. The main advantage of this technology is that cooling loads and solar gains occur at the same time, at least on a seasonal level. However, until today only a few systems have been installed world-wide and design and operation experiences are fairly poor. The goal of this handbook - meanwhile available in the 2nd edition - is to address this lack and to support the planner in the design of solar assisted air-conditioning systems, which use solar collectors as heat source.
