Masdar City is testing high-vacuum flat solar thermal panels for air conditioning

Masdar City and TVP Solar have completed installation of a field of TVP Solar's MT-Power high-vacuum flat solar thermal panels for the solar cooling plant at Masdar City, UAE.
Masdar City and TVP Solar have completed installation of a field of TVP Solar's MT-Power high-vacuum flat solar thermal panels for the solar cooling plant at Masdar City, UAE.

Masdar City, one of the most sustainable cities in the world, is testing this solar technology for potential future use to meet the air-conditioning requirements of the City.
The MT-Power panels is expected to provide over 70% solar-to-cooling conversion efficiency operating at 180°C to drive a double-effect absorption chiller.
The panels capture, diffuse and direct light, thus providing at least 30% higher energy output than any concentrating collector. In addition, the technology operates effectively in the harsh and dusty desert environment, requires zero maintenance and no precision cleaning.
Combining traditional flat plate design with thermal insulator (high-vacuum), MT-Power panels suppress convection losses and maintain the fluid flow entirely within the vacuum envelope, thus providing high thermal performance with a very low collector cost profile. The payback period is predicted to, be less than 6 years.

TVP Solar aims to deploy further MT-Power solar fields during 2012 for solar air-conditioning applications with double stage absorption chiller in a hybrid natural gas/solar system configuration that will operate on a 24 h a day basis, covering peak and base loads.