raw · papers · ingested 2026-08-10
Experimental Comparison: Solar-Thermal vs PV Drive of the Same Off-Grid Sorption Refrigerator (Selvaraj et al., Scientific Reports 2026)
confidence: high
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-47817-8
Source: Scientific Reports (2026), open access, full fetch. Credibility: High — peer-reviewed measured data; absorption-vs-adsorption caveat flagged.
Numbers
| Drive | Evaporator | COP | End-to-end efficiency | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat-plate collector | 12 °C | 0.14 | 35.3% (collector→generator) | stable (thermal inertia) |
| 100 W PV + battery | 9 °C | 0.12 | ~9% | cloud-sensitive swings |
Relation to wiki
Gives PV vs Thermal its first measured same-machine comparison: the sunlight-to-heat path is ~4× more efficient end-to-end, but PV+vapor-compression’s system COP (3–8) still dominates the market case — both can be true. Also supports the “why direct solar-heated beds” argument in Solar Adsorption Cooling.