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Solar air conditioning and its role in alleviating the energy crisis of the Mediterranean hotels

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that the Mediterranean region could experience an increase in annual mean temperatures up to 7.1°C by the end of the century. Within the same time frame, the fossil fuel stocks are predicted to diminish, resulting in ever increasing fuel prices. Furthermore, there is continuous political pressure to impose greenhouse gas levies and quotas for industries and services alike, thus adding into their operational expenditures should they exceed their carbon quotas. The hotel industry, in particular, is predicted to suffer from the direct and indirect effects of climate change and increasing fuel prices. Not only are their operating costs bound to increase but in addition, they may suffer from reduced tourist flows if and when the airline industry is forced to increase travel prices. It is in this context of a predicted ‘energy crisis’ within the hotel industry that this study was undertaken in order to evaluate the extent to which hotels can future-proof their operations. Integration of renewable energy sources into hotel operations is perceived as the most promising form of crisis mitigation. In the Mediterranean region, the availability of solar irradiation is abundant and free from microclimatic limitations associated with wind energy in comparison. Therefore, solar-assisted air conditioning was identified as a key strategy because its operational principal dictates that the greatest availability of energy coincides with the peak demands. The aim of this article is to review the currently available solar air-conditioning technologies, their energy saving potential and technical limitations. The study is based on a literature review supplemented with information available from equipment vendors. Subsequently, the objective of this article is to set solar air-conditioning equipment selection criteria that could assist hotels of various service classes in their energy planning and equipment upgrades.