ENERGY-SAVING SOLAR POWERED COOLING SYSTEM

The main objective of this project is to design an energy-saving solar powered cooling
system for the residential sector. The focus is on the new energy-saving design where
one of the relatively new designs is the evaporative cooler. Malaysia is seen as a fertile
market for renewable energy as it grapples with growing demand for power to feed
rapid economic expansion at the same time as global oil are rising. Since Malaysia is
blessed with enough amount of solar energy during daytime, it would a waste if it is not
utilized for cooling purposes. It is during daytime that air-conditioners are normally
used and the electricity consumption of the air-conditioning unit is normally high,
making of unaffordable for lower income group. The development of a solar powered
evaporative cooling system is probably a reasonably good solution to provide
comfortable living especially for the rural folks. The environment is no longer
conducive with unusually daily high temperatures. The evaporative cooler is powered
by the photovoltaic cells to operate the cooling system. The cooled air that flows out is
dry air and the humidity is low. It can lower about 5 °C to 8 °C of the room
temperature. The major components of this evaporative cooler are solar panel, battery
storage, plastic plates heat-exchanger, water spray, re-circulating water pump, outdoor
air intake with air filter, supply fans and exhaust fans. Through this project work, it is
shown that the evaporative cooler uses a fraction of the energy of air conditioners and
photovoltaic cells can provide enough electricity to run the system effectively. Solar
energy can be converted to electricity by using photovoltaic cells. The solar electricity
generated will charge the battery when cooling system is inactive and the battery work
as a back up when solar energy is not sufficient. The construction of the evaporative
cooler prototype has been successfully developed to the real application based on the
research and analysis that was conducted.