ABSTRACT
In some ways, solar energy is better suited to space cooling and refrigeration than to space heating, but this application of solar energy has not found much commercial success. The seasonal variation of solar energy is extremely well suited to the space-cooling requirements of buildings. The principal factors affecting the temperature in a building are the average quantity of radiation received and the environmental air temperature. Since the warmest seasons of the year correspond to periods of high insolation, solar energy is most available when comfort cooling is most needed. Moreover, as we have seen in Chapter 3, the efciency of solar collectors increases with increasing insolation and increasing environmental temperature. Consequently, in the summer, the amount of energy delivered per unit surface area of collector can be larger than that in winter.
