The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has introduced a revised format for its second annual Solar Heating and Cooling Workshop to be held on April 23, 2015 at the University of Wollongong.
AIRAH CEO Phil Wilkinson said solar heating and cooling has the potential to help Australia deal with some of the nation's electricity grid issues, such as reducing greenhouse gases and infrastructure costs.
The conference program will be split into three focus areas over the course of the day: desiccant evaporative cooling, residential systems, and case studies.
As well as the new format, workshop chair Jeremy Osborne, said the event includes a site tour of the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre with Professor Paul Cooper.
There will be a demonstration of the centre's unique research facilities including test rigs for development and testing of photovoltaic thermal systems and phase-change materials, the world-beating Team UOW Solar Decathlon house, and advanced HVAC and control systems.
For Cooper, solar cooling has the potential to be a key “disruptive technology”.
“Solar cooling promises to be a circuit breaker in the spiral of increasing use of summer air conditioning around the world, which in turn drives up peak utility loads, energy prices and greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
“This workshop provided delegates with an in-depth insight into the most recent developments in this type of technology, its potential, and its current challenges.”