After five years of research and development, the COOLSPACES 4 LIFE project is nearing its conclusion, with the goal of testing a global solution to an energy problem in 2027. The project has promoted a solar cooling system based on green refrigerants and powered by photovoltaic panels. Led by the Wrocław University of Science and Technology in Poland, it involves the University of Almería (UAL), responsible for renewable energy storage, and the companies PROZON and HederaHelix, along with CIESOL.
The project is in its final phase, having held a workshop on the UAL campus. Miguel Pérez, the UAL's Rector's Delegate for Strategy, Communication, and Coordination, opened the event, highlighting the collaboration between universities and companies to tackle the challenge of keeping buildings cool while reducing energy consumption and emissions. The developed system combines solar energy, cooling technology, thermal storage, and refrigerants with low global warming potential, featuring pilot installations already implemented at UAL and in Wrocław.
Pérez emphasized the importance of the practical dimension for evaluating performance in real-world environments, particularly relevant in Almería due to rising temperatures. He noted that thermal storage is key to addressing the mismatch between cooling needs and solar energy availability, allowing energy to be captured when available and used when needed. He also mentioned other LIFE projects involving UAL, such as SALTEAU and ACCLIMATE.
Sabina Rosiek, the project coordinator, explained that the goal is a fully autonomous system independent of the electrical grid, using thermal storage in phase-change materials. After five years of work and the construction of two pilot installations in Wrocław and CIESOL, the final year will be dedicated to testing. The aim is to offer a 'zero emissions' solution with green refrigerants, without grid electricity consumption and reducing pollution.
Antonio Puertas, head of the Almería participation, stressed that the project has boosted UAL's research in renewable energies applied to cooling, consolidating this line of work. The installation at CIESOL aims to ensure that air conditioning, increasingly a necessity, does not represent a significant portion of energy consumption, promoting the use of renewable energy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The project has two main pillars: the development of environmentally friendly refrigerants (Polish node) and thermal storage (UAL node).
Puertas detailed that thermal storage allows energy to be stored as heat during periods of excess production, to be used later during hours without sun, thus ensuring cooling from renewable sources. José Luis Casas, director of CIESOL, described COOLSPACES as a strategic project for the research center, focusing on solar cooling systems and building climate control, and highlighted CIESOL's active participation in other LIFE projects.
