Tokyo Gas Starts Using Solar Heating and Cooling System at Its Kumagaya Office

Copyright Tokyo Gas Co.

Tokyo Gas Co., a major natural gas utility servicing the Kanto area, installed a solar energy system at its branch office located in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, and initiated its operation in July 2009. The system utilizes heat captured by a solar energy collector to operate heating and cooling systems, as well as a water heater. Compared to the previous system, which employed models of an absorption chiller-heater and a commercial water heater, this one is expected to cut primary energy usage by approximately 32 percent, and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by around 29 percent.

A high-efficiency vacuum-tube solar energy collector -- approximately 72 square meters of energy collecting surface, with a peak energy collection capacity of approximately 47 kilowatts -- is installed on the roof of the Kumagaya office building to collect solar heat. During summer, the collected heat powers the absorption chiller, which in turn cools water for an air-conditioner. In winter, it is used for space heating and making hot water. The heat exchanger for the heater supplies warm water to heat spaces, while another heat exchanger preheats water for the water heater. The system also includes a gas-powered absorption chiller-heater to cool or heat water and a high-efficiency latent heat recovery type water heater. They supplement inconsistent levels of solar energy in order to provide consistent air temperature and an uninterrupted supply of hot water.

The company plans to incorporate knowledge acquired from the Kumagaya operation in product development, and hopes to commercialize and start selling the solar energy application system around fiscal 2010.

Tokyo Gas to Test High-Efficiency Solar Air Conditioning System (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029023.html
Tokyo Gas Co. official website
http://www.tokyo-gas.co.jp/index_e.html

Posted: 2009/09/06 06:00:15AM