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University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

COMPLEX
ENGINEERING
PROBLEM

SUBMITTED TO:

DR. MUHAMMAD
USMAN

Submitted by:

2019-ME-102

2019-ME-103

Solar Power Assisted Air 2019-ME-104

Conditioner for a Delivery
2019-ME-108
Truck Cabin
2019-ME-123

Department of Mechanical Engineering, UET, Lahore

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Table of Contents
1. Abstract:.................................................................................................................................................4
2. Introduction:...........................................................................................................................................4
2.1. Heating and Cooling Load Calculation Techniques..........................................................................4
2.2. Hourly Analysis Program.................................................................................................................5
2.3. Photovoltaic System:......................................................................................................................5
2.4. PV Syst............................................................................................................................................5
2.5. Factors affecting Human Comfort...................................................................................................5
3. Literature Review....................................................................................................................................5
4. Methodology:.........................................................................................................................................7
4.1. Selected Truck Design and Dimensions:..........................................................................................7
4.2. Breakdown of FM D11K cabin construction:...................................................................................8
4.2.1. Roof:........................................................................................................................................9
4.2.2. Rear Wall:................................................................................................................................9
4.3. Modelling System in HAP:.............................................................................................................10
4.3.1. Weather:...............................................................................................................................10
4.3.2. Schedule:...............................................................................................................................10
4.4. Effect of Truck Movement............................................................................................................10
4.5. HAP Calculations and Dimensions:................................................................................................11
4.5.1. Wind Shield...........................................................................................................................11
4.5.2. Side Window Glass................................................................................................................12
4.5.3. Side Doors.............................................................................................................................13
4.5.4. Cabin.....................................................................................................................................14
4.5.5. Front Wall.............................................................................................................................14
4.5.6. Side Walls:.............................................................................................................................15
4.5.7. Rear Wall:..............................................................................................................................16
4.5.8. Floor......................................................................................................................................17
4.5.9. Roof:......................................................................................................................................18
4.5.10. Truck Tail...............................................................................................................................20
4.6. Engine specifications.....................................................................................................................21
4.7. Specification of A/C (if available for comparison).........................................................................21
4.8. Space Definition............................................................................................................................22
4.9. Air Conditioning System................................................................................................................22

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4.10. Zone Components.....................................................................................................................23

4.11. Fundamentals of PV Syst...........................................................................................................23
4.12. PV Syst. Calculations:................................................................................................................25
4.13. Cost and Return Analysis:..........................................................................................................29
4.13.1. Calculation of Payback Period:..............................................................................................29
4.14. CO2 Emissions:...........................................................................................................................29
4.15. Environmental Benefits of Solar Power Assisted Air Conditioning Unit....................................30
4.16. Comparison of CO2 Emissions with and without PV system:.....................................................30
5. Results and Discussions........................................................................................................................30
5.1. Peak Cooling Load Requirement...................................................................................................32
5.2. Effect of Orientation on Cooling Load...........................................................................................34
PV Syst. Results:........................................................................................................................................35
5.3. Monthly Energy Accounting..........................................................................................................37
6. Conclusion:...........................................................................................................................................37
7. References:...........................................................................................................................................38

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Solar Power Assisted Air Conditioner for a Delivery Truck Cabin

1. Abstract:
Delivery trucks are used all across the world to carry out the trading activities. To maintain a
comfortable cabin climate for the driver, air conditioning system must be installed. For this
purpose, cooling load calculations have been performed by Transfer function methodology. In this
study, VOLVO delivery truck is considered and its dimensions were retrieved from manufacturer.
Maximum cooling load occurring throughout the working schedule is analysed by Hourly Analysis
Programme (HAP) and used to size the components of AC. Cooling load was observed for
movement of truck in eight different directions. Solar panels using PV syst. software according to
the requirement and design load are selected. PV system with appropriate factor of safeties is
designed and reduction in CO2 emissions due to solar energy utilization for powering air
conditioning system is calculated. Moreover, the impacts of inclusion of AC system on the health
of truck drivers, total cost of designed solar PV system and environmental sustainability of system
have also been discussed.

2. Introduction:
The most significant contribution of automotive engineering to automotive industry is the use and
evaluation of air conditioning. Vehicles are designed with proper air conditioning systems
according to the standards outlaid by American Society of Heat and Refrigeration Engineers
(ASHRAE). Air conditioning load factors are frequently changing depending not only on
environmental conditions but also on speed and load on vehicle. Thus, the prime purpose of air
conditioning is to provide comfort to drivers as well as passengers under a variety of conditions.
The compressor requires energy to run vehicles air-conditioning system and increases its fuel
consumption more than any auxiliary feature because of extra load on the engine. However, solar
power assisted air conditioners for vehicles are being used to reduce fuel consumption.
Photovoltaic panels attached to the roof of truck’s cabin collects solar energy to charge a specially
made battery system that powers an electric motor to derive compressor which produces the cooled
air. This allows it to operate on cloudy or rainy days because it is standalone system, the Ac can be
switched on when the vehicle engine is not running. Solar panel is made from bendy materials
which can fit perfectly on vehicle’s rooftop and serves as a good thermal insulation for the interior
and other valuable equipment inside the vehicle.
2.1. Heating and Cooling Load Calculation Techniques
ASHRAE Handbook Fundamental outlines three basic methods for the estimation of heating and
cooling loads. These methods include TFM, CLF/CLTD and TA/TETD. CLF/CLTD method is
best suited for manual calculations, the method is fairly straightforward but this simplification
overlooks many parameters that cause variation in the calculations, hence disturbing the accuracy
level. CLTD/CLF method is regarded as reasonably accurate approximation of the total heat gain
for the purpose of sizing HVAC equipment. The most complex of the three is Transfer Function
Method (TFM), which involves the modelling of system parameters in the form of complex
differential equations which can only be solved using numerical techniques. Another upside to this
method is that it can analyze the system based on hourly data, which makes it possible to actually
pin-point the hour of the year at which the peak cooling load would occur.

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2.2. Hourly Analysis Program

Hourly Analysis program version 4.90 has been utilized for the calculation of cooling load and
equipment sizing. The same program is used to simulate the system under the suggested equipment
sizing. HAP is designed for the modelling of buildings, but our system here is a truck cabin which
is not a stationary object. Most of the data about material properties have been mentioned in the
Software program by default, but for some data literature has been referred to for finding the
standard values of parameters.
2.3. Photovoltaic System:
Photovoltaic systems (PV systems) are a renewable energy technology which transforms the
energy from the sun into electricity using photovoltaics. These photovoltaics, also known as solar
panels, provide a reliable green energy solution. A solar PV system is a sustainable, low-
maintenance option for anyone who wants to contribute to a greener environment, as the system
does not cause any pollution or emissions and has numerous advantages.
While solar panels have been used for decades to produce power for residential and commercial
buildings, their application in the trucking industry is much more recent. Solar panels for trucks
capitalize on reduced costs and increased efficiency.
2.4. PV Syst.
One of the oldest photovoltaic software used globally for the study, sizing, simulation and data
analysis of complete solar PV System. Its main features include full design of remote PV systems
and PV systems connected to the grid, complete database of PV panels, inverters, meteorological
data, import of radiation data from PVGIS, NASA databases, economic evaluation and payback
and used to simulate the behavior of PV modules and cells according to radiation, temperature,
shadings. A lot of financial decisions are taken basis the simulation report which is given as an
output by the software
2.5. Factors affecting Human Comfort
Thermal human comfort is the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal
environment. It depends on
 Air temperature (Temperature of air surrounding the occupant)
 Humidity (Percentage of water vapors in air)
 Radiant temperature (The weighted average of all the temperatures from surfaces
surrounding an occupant)
 Air velocity (Rate of air movement given distance over time)
 Metabolic rates (The energy generated from human body), clothing levels etc.

3. Literature Review
There are various types of loads to consider in automobile air conditioning. The human body
creates heat as a result of metabolic activities taking place inside of it and that heat is taken as a
heat gain by the air present in the cabin and is named as metabolic load. The radiation load is the
heat gain due to the solar radiations. These radiations can either strike the body of vehicle directly
or through reflection done by the ground nearby.[2]

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The ambient load is the heat gain caused by the temperature difference via conduction or
convection between the ambient and the cabin. The internal combustion engine of the vehicles can
create high temperature exhaust gases. Some of that heat is transferred to cabin via cabin floor
which is named as exhaust load[3]. The ventilation load is the result of heat gain caused by the
fresh air which is allowed to enter the vehicle cabin in order to maintain the air quality for
passengers and this consists of both sensible and latent loads. Another type of load which is taken
in consideration is the AC load required to compensate the other thermal loads in order to maintain
a temperature inside the cabin which is comfortable for the passengers.[4]
In the previous few decades, the efficient design of automobile has been of greatest interest for
automotive research[5]. The targets to achieve in this regard are reduction of fuel consumption and
tailpipe emission. According to study by Westland, J., Haskew, H. air conditioning system of
automobile has great effect on exhaust emission and he proposed that use of automobile AC lead
to increase in NOx emission from 16 percent to up to 100 percent. Similarly, Johnson in his study
said that major auxiliary. load present in automobile is the use of air conditioner. The energy
consumed by air automobile air conditioner is even more than the energy loss in aerodynamic loss,
energy loss in rolling resistance.US alone utilizes 6 billion gallons of fuel for light vehicles air
conditioning[3].
According to Finger, P.O a very clear knowledge of heating as well as cooling load experienced by
a passenger cabin is the key requirement for an efficient automobile air conditioning system
design. Thermal comfort model proposed by Fanger,P.O is widely used in AC research and
Applications[6]. Using Finger model as basis Ingersoll, J. proposed a human thermal comfort
model. His model can be sued for assessment of thermal comfort status[7].
According to Kamar, H Heat Balance Method is more reliable than weighting factor method
however weighting Factor method is easier. When more detail is available then HBM should be
the first choice[8].
Ding and Zito proposed and utilized a new lumped model for the cabin and solved the related
transient heat transfer differential analytically. Their model can act as a benchmark for problems
like cool down test. Solutions to these differential equations lead to improved and complete
understanding of air conditioning design and test[9, 10].
The standards of the ASHRAE manual give two primary strategies to figure out heat load and coal
load. These include Heat Balance Method and Weighing Factor Method. HBM is the more
accurate and conservative and at the same time complex. When small amount of data about heating
and cooling load is available then WFM is preferred and when a greater amount of data is available
HBM should be the first choice[11].

4. Methodology:
The following section will cover the methodology related to cabin construction, cooling load for
the truck cabin and selection of solar panels using PV syst. software according to the requirement
and design load.

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4.1. Selected Truck Design and Dimensions:

In this design of cooling load for a truck cabin the first step was selection of local delivery truck.
The investigated cabin is Volvo FM D11K 330 Day Cab. Technical drawings of selected truck are
as follows:

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A = 6.7 m
B = 6.2 m
C = 11.01m
D = 2.5 m

4.2. Breakdown of FM D11K cabin construction:

In order to list and analyze different walls and structural elements of cabin, it was divided into six
main parts i.e., Roof, floor, door, front wall, rear wall and side wall.
All of these except the floor are shown in given below figure. The main purpose of dividing this
cabin was to enable
 Accurate calculations for the heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation.
 Identification of parts of cabin where energy efficiency measures could be made.

4.2.1. Roof:
The roof was split into front roof, side roof and top roof. The roof was split in order to achieve a
sufficient level of detail of roof where cross-section was homogeneous as possible in terms of
insulation.

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4.2.2. Rear Wall:

Rear wall was divided into three zones. Dimensions and zones are shown in given below figure.

4.3. Modelling System in HAP:

The modelling of the truck cabin in HAP is rather complicated, which calls for a simplification in
the modelling of truck cabin to estimate it as a single room with 4 walls, a floor and a ceiling. The
wind shield, and the side doors have been incorporated into the system as glass windows. The
effect of engine heat reaching the zone has been included as a sensible load to the zone.
4.3.1. Weather:
The selected site for analysis is Jacobabad, located in Sindh one of the hottest city of Pakistan
having latitude 28.2437 °N and 68.3816° E. As HAP does not have weather data for Jacobabad, we
have manually input the data using past data record.
4.3.2. Schedule:
The data was selected for summer season because it is common understanding that the heating load
will be maximum for summer season. So, months from April to October were included in analysis
and a time of 8 A.M to 6 P.M was selected as working time.
4.4. Effect of Truck Movement
The truck is not a stationary entity, rather it is a dynamic system which moves about the roads. In
order to include the effect of movement of truck, the analysis has been done by rotating the truck
cabin along 8 different directions, with resolution of 45 degrees (East, North, South, West, South
East, South West, North East, and North West)
Taking the front wall of the truck as a reference and having it initially facing the north, the back
wall would be facing the south and the side walls would be facing east and west respectively. The
analysis was performed for this orientation, but for the next orientation, the rotate space option of

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HAP was utilized to rotate the space by 45 degrees, thus making the front wall of the truck cabin to
face north east and the remaining walls follow accordingly. The process was repeated for the
remaining six directions and the corresponding reports were exported from HAP. The orientations
of the truck for eight different cases have been depicted in fig.

4.5. HAP Calculations and Dimensions:

The cooling load of the truck by using the Hour analysis program is evaluated for the realistic
dimension. The dimensions and material used for analysis are shown below in table 1
4.5.1. Wind Shield
Wind shield is located at the front face of the truck. The dimensions and composition of
windshield glass is given in the Tables mentioned below:
Table 1 Wind Shield Specifications

Dimensions Overall
Total Area Conductance
Material Lengt U
Width Height
h
Windshield
(m) (m2 ¿ (W /K . m2)

Glass sheet +
2.17 0.014 0.8 1.74 1.46
PVB +PET

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Table 2 Wind Shield Composition Details

Overall Overall
Material Layer
Material Thickness Resistance of Conductance of
Resistance
Windshield Windshield
(mm) ( K . m2 /W ) ( K . m2 /W ) (W /K . m2)
Glass Sheet 6.4 0.34
Polyvinyl
0.76 0.00322
Butyral
Polyethylene-
0.6838 1.46
terephthalate
0.2 0.00066
(PET)+CuS
Layer
Glass Sheet 6.4 0.34

4.5.2. Side Window Glass

The side doors have tempered glass of thickness 7.4 mm, other dimensions and data about side
door glass windows have been tabulated in 3 and 4:
Table 3 Window Glass Specifications

Dimensions Overall
Total Area Conductance
Material Length Width Height U
Window Glass
(m) (m2 ¿ (W /K . m 2)

Glass sheet + 0.007

0.8 0.5 0.4 2.9079
PVB +PET 4

Table 4 Window Glass Composition Details

Overall Overall
Material Layer
Material Thickness Resistance of Conductance of
Resistance
Windshield Windshield
(mm) ( K . m2 /W ) ( K . m2 /W ) (W /K . m2)

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Glass Sheet 3.2 0.17

Polyvinyl
0.76 0.00322
Butyral
Polyethylene-
0.3438 2.9079
terephthalate
0.2 0.00066
(PET)+CuS
Layer
Glass Sheet 3.2 0.17

4.5.3. Side Doors

The side doors have following specifications and composition:

Table 5 Side Doors Specifications

Dimensions Overall
Total Area Conductance
Material Widt U
Length Height
h
Side Doors
(m) (m 2 ¿ (W / K . m2)

SM sheet + Air
0.95 0.157 1.5 1.5 0.1805
Gap

Table 6 Window Glass Composition Details

Overall Overall
Material Layer
Material Thickness Resistance of Conductance of
Resistance
Windshield Windshield
(mm) ( K . m2 /W ) ( K . m2 /W ) (W /K . m2)
SM Sheet 3.25 0.00007
Air Gap 150 5.54 5.54 0.1805
SM Sheet 3.25 0.00007

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4.5.4. Cabin
The total internal volume of the cabin is almost 7.35 m3. The other specifications of the cabin are
presented in Table 7 as shown below:
Table 7 Truck Cabin Specifications

Dimensions
Total Volume of
Lengt Truck Cabin
Material Width Height
h
Truck cabin
(m) (m3 ¿
Mild steel sheet +
2.49 1.8 1.64 7.35
Insulation/Air space

4.5.5. Front Wall

The wall facing the front side of the truck cabin comprises of two layers of materials along with
inner and outside air films. This data has been summarized in the tables below:

Table 8 Front Wall Specifications

Dimensions Overall
Total Area Conductance
Material Widt U
Length Height
h
Front Wall
(m) (m 2 ¿ (W / K . m2)

MS Sheet + Air
2.49 0.156 1.64 3.9 0.175
space

Table 9 Front Wall Composition Details

Overall Overall
Material Layer
Material Thickness Resistance of Conductance of
Resistance
Windshield Windshield
(mm) ( K . m2 /W ) ( K . m2 /W ) (W /K . m2)

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MS Sheet 3.25 0.00007

Air Space 150 5.54 5.72 0.175
MS Sheet 3.25 0.00007

Front Wall Composition

4.5.6. Side Walls:

Table 10 Side Walls Specifications

Dimensions Overall
Total Area Conductance
Material Length Width Height U
Side Walls
(m) (m 2 ¿ (W /K . m2)
MS Sheet +
1.815 0.032 1.64 2.98 0.713
Insulation

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Composition of Side wall

4.5.7. Rear Wall:
Rear wall is made up of 3 different zones. It has been assumed that the rear wall is also totally
exposed to the sunlight in order to increase load on the system at its worst-case design conditions.
The composition of each zone is shown below:
Area
Zone Name
(m 2 ¿
Rear Wall Zone 1 2.9
Rear Wall Zone 2 1.0
Rear Wall Zone 3 2.0

Composition of Rear wall zone 1

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Composition of Rear wall zone 2

Composition of Rear wall zone 3

4.5.8. Floor
The specifications of the floor are reported in the tables below as follows:
Table11 Floor Specifications

Dimensions Overall
Cabin Floor Material Total Area Conductance
Length Width Height U

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(m) (m2 ¿ (W /K . m2)

Polypropylene Sheet
+ Insulation + Glass 2.49 1.815 0.075 4.5 0.3796
wool + MS sheet

Table12 Floor Composition Details

Overall Overall
Material Layer
Material Thickness Resistance of Conductance of
Resistance
Windshield Windshield
(mm) ( K . m2 /W ) ( K . m2 /W ) (W /K . m2)
Glass Wool Noise
35 1.167
Absorber
Polypropylene
1 0.0091
Sheet 2.634 0.3796
Polyurethane
35 1.458
Insulation
SM Sheet 3.25 0.00007

4.5.9. Roof:
The roof will consist of 4 different zones. The zone areas and their compositions are shown below:
Area
Zone Name
(m2 ¿
Front Roof 0.4
Rear Roof 0.3
Side Roof 0.3
Top Roof 4.5

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Composition of Front Roof

Composition of Rear Roof

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Composition of Side Roof

Composition of Top Roof

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4.5.10. Truck Tail

The data about Truck Tail as retrieved from the manufacturer’s catalogue is shown in Table below:
Table13 Specifications of Truck Tail

Dimensions
Total Area
Main Material Widt
Length Height
h
Truck Tail
(m) (m 2 ¿

Mild Steel Sheets +

3 2.7 2.5 8.1
Insulation

4.6. Engine specifications

Model: Volvo FM D11K 330 Day Cab

Type: Medium Sized Truck
Max. output: 330 hp at 1400–1950 r/min
Max. torque: 1650 Nm at 1000–1300 rpm
Displacement: 11 liters

Truck tail
Dimensions: L =10 ft, W = 8 ft, H = 3.5 ft (from ground)

4.7. Specification of A/C (if available for comparison)

Cooling load: 2.2 kW
Power Consumption 850 W

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COP 3.8
Compressor SD7H15 A/C COMPRESSOR
Type: Wobble plate type compressor
Refrigerant: R-134a
Power: (variable depending on current)
Displacement: 155 cc/rev
Speed: 6000 rpm

4.8. Space Definition

Individual elements were modelled on HAP, and those elements were then used to generate a
single zone space inside the software interface. The standards used for the analysis were ASHRAE
Std 62.1 – 2010. The ventilation requirements were set to Miscellaneous: Transportation
Waiting as it had a fairly reasonable amount of Outdoor air requirements.
Internals
In the space internal section, a lighting of 5W with a ballast multiplier of 1 was introduced which
was scheduled to work for one hour daily. This is because, the truck is working in daylight and no
need of light is required at day time. Although, it was not necessary and it had negligible effect on
CFM requirements, yet it had been incorporated to increase load on the space. The truck cabin can
accommodate a maximum of two people, so the occupants were set to 2 people with activity level
of seated at rest. The working schedule was the same as described in above section. Another
internal load is the electrical equipment in the form of multimedia player of 50 Watts and a
Refrigerator present under the seat area with a power usage of 50 W.
The truck cabin is assumed to be isolated – i.e., it is exposed to solar loads from all
directions. The truck trail has been eliminated, as it is cooling load calculation, and having truck
trail would produce shadow on the back wall, thereby producing some cooling. To nullify the
effect of this shadowing, the truck trail has been ignored from the analysis. It has been assumed
that no infiltration occurs and the space is single zoned.

4.9. Air Conditioning System

The AC system selected for simulation studies has been set to Split AHU with Air System type of
constant air volume (CAV). The number of zones to be serviced by this system is one. The details
about system components are discussed here onwards.
4.9.1. System Components:
The system components selected for the simulation studies and design calculations are the
following:
 Ventilation Air

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In the ventilation air, the airflow control has been set to constant. The damper leak rate has been
set to 5%, the outdoor Air CO2 level was 400ppm, according to the ASHRAE standards,
Minimum and Maximum CO2 Differentials were 100 ppm and 700 ppm respectively.
 Dehumidification
The problem in question is to find the cooling load requirements during the summer season
during which the atmosphere can get very humid on some days, if the humidity level increases
too much, it also disturbs the comfort level. Humidity level is thus controlled by using the
dehumidifier which is set to a maximum relative humidity level of 60%.
 Central Cooling
The central cooling system temperature has been set to 14.4oC, with a coil bypass factor of 0.1 by
default. Winter months have been excluded from the analysis and only the months of summer
from April to September have been included in the schedule. The maximum supply temperature
is set of 23oC in this section of the system.
 Supply Fan
A forward curved draw thru supply fan with a Brake Horsepower of 0.5 and motor efficiency of
90% has been incorporated into the system.
 Duct System
The heat gain and leakage rate in the duct system have been assumed to be 5%, the air is returned
via ducted return.

4.10.Zone Components
 Zone Spaces
It comprises of the space which is already defined above. Only a single space is present and
that makes up all of the zone spaces.
 Thermostats
A thermostat is added in the zone space with occupied cooling and heating set points
temperatures of 23oC and 21oC respectively. The schedule of thermostat working is the
same as that of the working hours. In case of unoccupied space, there is cooling action
present and thermostat is responsible for controlling this phenomenon. This does not affect
the calculation of cooling load as the maximum cooling load is only possible in occupied
cabin time during the whole day time.
 Sizing Data
This data is available once the model has been completed and design calculations have
been performed. It is computer generated data which reflects the required equipment sizing
to meet the desired purpose of heating or cooling loads. A 10% factor of safety for sensible

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and latent heat has been employed for designing AC system so that it works in all the
possible conditions without any problem.
 Equipment
There is a predefined library of equipment data, and the component sizing is suggested
according to the estimated maximum load. Auto-sized capacity function has been
employed for the sizing of equipment.

4.11.Fundamentals of PV Syst.
Before going into the details of PV Syst. Software, some important terminologies and
fundamentals are explained in the table below:
Table 14: Fundamentals of PV Systems
Fundamentals Description
kWp Kilowatt peak is unit for output of PV system. The peak power a PV
system generates.
Pb Sealed Gel Contains sealed immobile gel like mass of mixture of sulfuric acid and
silica fumes.
Controller Ensures safe charging of the batteries and powering up of the load.
MPPT Maximum Power Point Tracking is a controller technology for
optimization of PV energy produced.
SOC State of Charge.
STC Standard Test Conditions.
P mpp The point when panel supplies maximum power.
I sc The highest value of current panel can supply is short circuit current.
V oc The highest voltage supplied by the panel is open circuit voltage.
Nominal Power The max. power obtained when resistive load of panel is varied from 0
to maximum.
Meteo File File containing the weather data of a particular location at a particular
time. It might be based on real-time data or interpolated.
Glob_Hor The amount of irradiation that is incident on the panel surface.
Glob_Eff The part of global horizontal irradiation that is effective.
E_Avail The total energy that is being produced by the panels.
E_Unused The energy that goes unused.
E_Miss The energy that is missing compared to the amount required.
E_User The energy that is available to the user.
E_Load The energy that is used by the load applied.
Sol_Frac The fraction of solar energy available to user to that used by the load.

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4.12.PV Syst. Characteristics:

The maximum load resulting from the HAP calculations served as the base for the PVsyst
simulation. PVsyst. simulation found suitable PV panels and battery packs based on the user need.
A “standalone project” was simulated on PVsyst. For Jacobabad PVsyst default database does not
have METEO file for Jacobabad. Thus, a synthetic file was imported from “MeteoNorm” to the
PVsyst database to proceed the project. The components of PV system are solar panels, battery,
controller and wiring. The peak load along with hourly distribution of 8 hours (8 am- 4 pm) for 10-
hour shift for 5 days was entered.

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Typical Layout of a standalone system

Orientation of PV Panel

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Appliance Definition and Hourly Distribution

The orientation was defined at 0 inclination. The PV panels are to be placed on top of truck tail.
The system was defined with 2.4 kWh/day average user need with a nominal power of 1.1 kWp. 4
sealed gel Pb batteries each of 12 V and 160 Ah were employed (2 in series & 2 in parallel). The
PV panels were sized to an area of 5 square meters. 2 strings with 1 in series was the suitable size
as defined by PVsyst. The solar panels used were Longi Solar LR5-72 HIH 530M G2 (530Wp)
and batteries were Generic Solar 12 V/ 160 Ah sealed Pb gel. Universal MPPT controller by
Generic was used. The system was sized keeping into consideration the fact that battery backup is
required for 1 day at most and that more energy produced will be wasted. This allowed to lower
the battery pack size to a set of only 4 batteries at the cost of lower system performance. The

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system devised was then simulated and PVsyst tabulated the results. A trade-off had to be made
between performance factor and battery pack size. Both were kept balanced so as to devise a
system that is optimized and does not require any backup generator.

Battery Selection

PV Array and Contorller Selection

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4.13.Cost and Return Analysis:

Cost of System:
Commodity Cost Per Unit Number of Total Cost
Units
Solar panels 40000 14 560000
Batteries 25000 4 100000
Installation 100000 1 100000
Total: 760000

Cost of system in terms of local currency: 7,60,000 Pakistani Rupees

Present price of diesel in Pakistan: 144.15 Pakistani Rupees / liter
Cost of system in terms of diesel : 5,270 Litres
The amount of fuel used by the truck annually :
Daily Distance Travelled : 250 km
Distance Travelled Annually : 40000 km
Avg. Mileage without A/C : 3.33 km / L
Avg. Mileage with A/C : 3.031 km / L
Annual Fuel Consumption without A/C : 12000 L
Annual Fuel Consumption with A/C : 13200 L
Amount of fuel saved annualy : 1200 Litres
Amount of money saved annually : 1,73,000 Pakistani Rupees
4.13.1. Calculation of Payback Period:
The amount invested in the system is basically retrieved back in shape of the saved fuel. So, it is
convenient to convert the future fuel saved to its price. But the prices are supposed to increase or at
least vary with time. Another way is to convert the present investment money to equivalent fuel
amount. In this way, the depreciation factor of currency value and inflation can be neglected.
Investment = 5,270 Liters
Annuities = 1200 Liters per Annum
Payback Period < 5 years (4.4 years)

4.14. CO2 Emissions:

Problem of climate change is one of the most serious consequences of the emission of large
quantities of CO2 emission. Transport in general constitute a major share in CO2 emission. Vehicle
using fossil fuel (gasoline and diesel) produce CO2 emissions in quantities that depend on carbon
present in fuel molecule. Transport sector contribute 25% of CO2 emissions. Air-conditioning
generally uses power from IC engine and increases fuel consumption. Solar power assisted air
condition system is used to minimize C02 emissions.

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4.15. Environmental Benefits of Solar Power Assisted Air Conditioning Unit

Air conditioning plays a vital role in maintaining health and comfort in indoor environments.
Conventional automotive air conditioning is driven by internal combustion engine or power battery
which increases fuel consumption, pollution rate and vehicle carbon emission. Vehicles using
diesel and gasoline as fuel also increase CO2 emissions. Excessive CO2 creates a cover that traps
sun’s heat energy and results in increase in temperature of earth. Increase in atmospheric CO2 is
responsible for about two-third of total energy imbalance. It also contributes to respiratory
diseases, extreme weather, air pollution, global warming and greenhouse effect. In this study, air
conditioning system powered by solar photovoltaic module has been deigned in order to solve such
problems. Solar energy can be used to generate adequate energy to power air conditioning system.
Environmental conditions in vehicle have been improved meeting the requirements of human body
by this air-conditioning system and consumption of fossil fuels has been reduced. As it produces
lower carbon which minimizes the greenhouse effect and global warming. The efficiency of car
can be increased and reduces less amount of fuel. Hence, the environment will be less polluted.

4.16.Comparison of CO2 Emissions with and without PV system:

A liter of diesel contains 835 g of the fuel that is majorly composed of carbon, 86.2%. The
combustion analysis shows that:
CO2 produced in burning of 1 Liter Diesel= 2.6 Kg
CO2 produced by the truck annually with A/C load on engine = 34,320 kg
CO2 produced by the truck annually with A/C load on Solar = 31,200 kg
Annual decrease in CO2 emissions by the truck = 3120 kg
So, more than 3000kg of Carbon-dioxide can be reduced to be emitted by using PV system to
power the AC system of a truck. There are more than 200,000 trucks operating in Pakistan. If the
PV system is installed on an average 50% of the delivery trucks, this will result in large reduction
in the emission of carbon-dioxide and hence will be a great step towards environmental
sustainability.

5. Results and Discussions

The truck cabin model was simulated using the Hourly Analysis Program for eight different
directions. The cooling load and Required Flow Rate for all those directions were retrieved from
the log files generated by HAP. The results have been summarized in the table given below. The
directions were changed by taking the front wall of the truck cabin as the reference surface and
then rotating the front wall by 45 degrees clockwise in each run. The Directions analyzed were
North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West and North West. As the rotation is
provided, the conditions of maximum loading change and the time at which they occur also change
accordingly.
From the analysis it has been revealed that the maximum total coil cooling load occurred during
September at time 1500 hours, when the truck front faced southwest-wards. The value of load was
2.2kW and the required flow rate to provide this much cooling was 131 CFM. The difference

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between the cooling loads for different orientations was very little, but it is to be noted that
orientation shifted the maximum loading conditions to some other point of time. The detailed
reports generated by HAP can be retrieved from the link given below:

Direction Time of Total Coil Cooling Load Required Relative

Maximum Flow Rate Humidity
Cooling Load (kW) (tons) (L/s) (kg/kg)
N June 1500 1.9 0.54 103 57%
NE June 1500 1.9 0.54 106 56%
E June 1500 1.9 0.54 103 57%
SE September 1500 1.9 0.54 108 56%
S September 1500 2.0 0.57 118 57%
SW September 1500 2.2 0.63 131 54%
W September 1500 2.1 0.6 123 57%
NW June 1500 2.0 0.57 122 58%

Direction of Truck vs Flow rate

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Direction of Truck vs Cooling load

5.1. Peak Cooling Load Requirement

The table above shows that maximum cooling load occurs when the truck is moving in SW
direction. From HAP, at this direction, the maximum coil load comes out to be 2.2 kW in
September at 1500. The figure below shows the details at maximum load condition.

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Maximum Coil cooling load has been encountered in the month of September with the truck
oriented towards the south west direction. shows the data about the sensible cooling load
requirement throughout the whole day and the way the zone air is conditioned by the AC system.
The working hours were set from 8 AM to 6 PM, and it is only during these hours that the zone
conditioning is being observed. The curve of zone conditioning leads the zone sensible loading
curve by a factor which is equal to the amount of heat required to lower the zone temperature to
required levels of thermal comfort (specified as 23oC in this current case). Both the demand and
the supply curves follow almost a sinusoidal pattern with respect to the time of the day. During the
hours of maximum irradiance, the required loads are increased and during the night time, the
required loads are very low.
Zone: Zone 1
Data for September

Zone Sensible Zone Conditioning

1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
W

600
500
400
300
200
100
0
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day

Sensible Cooling Load Trend for September

The relationship between the total cooling load requirement with the time of the day is the same as
that of sensible load with the time. With the increase in incident solar insolation, the spaces get
heated up, consequently increasing the temperature inside the cabin. In order to bring this
temperature down, heat must be removed from that space and low temperature, conditioned air
must be introduced into the space. It is evident from next figure that the total cooling load for the
month of September reaches a maximum value of 2.2 kW at the time of 3 PM.

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Total Cooling Load for the Month of September

5.2. Effect of Orientation on Cooling Load

There are different modes of heat that contribute to the cooling load. There are only 2 occupants
and they also impart latent load on the system. It can be seen that the maximum cooling load
occurs due to the Solar loading, then due to wall, window and floor transmissions respectively.
The contribution of the remaining sources is not that much significant. This is described
illustratively using the bar chart below.

Cooling Load imparted Due to Individual Sources

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PV Syst. Results:
The analysis of the performed simulation begins by checking the performance ratio of the system.
The solar fraction being 1 is a sign that energy requirement is being fulfilled. The performance
ratio in this case is 41.3%. The ratio is considerably low due to use of PV system only during
summer and smaller battery pack. The end required energy requirement is still satiated. A solid
78.4% of direct and 21.6% stored energy with minor losses of about 7-8% from 954 kWh is left at
the end. This energy is surplus to power the A/C in the required working hours. Battery loss is
about 46% which is a major loss. Other minor losses are due to heating, array mismatch and dust
interference on collectors.

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The average incident energy on the panels throughout the year is 5.513 kWh/sq. meters/day which
is a solid 0.7 kW/sq. meters. While battery losses are 2.06 kWh/kWp/day. About 1.17
kWh/kWp/day is wasted in form of array and battery storage losses. The end energy the user
receives per day is 2.28 kWh/kWp.

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5.3. Monthly Energy Accounting

Discussion:
The system contains major loss due to battery pack being small and incapable of storing the
produced power. The small size of the battery pack is due to feasibility issues. First of all, a large
battery pack will require large space in the tail container and that has been avoided. Secondly,
instead of a larger battery pack of Pb acid batteries a smaller set of Li-ion batteries could be
employed. But that will result in very high system cost that demands a prolonged payback time.
The system will deteriorate before the break-even point is reached. The PV panels and Pb batteries
combined cost much less than a Li-ion battery making the PV system more feasible financially and
systematically.

6. Conclusion:
In this report, Hourly Analysis Program 4.90 has been employed for equipment sizing for the
driver’s truck cabin. Among the eight analyzed directions and the six targeted months without a
holiday, the maximum cooling load has been encountered when the truck was oriented along south
west direction at which the maximum flow rate of 131 L/s and total cooling load of 2.2kW was
observed. The maximum load occurs in the month of September at 1500. The final design
parameters for the worst-case scenario have been mentioned in the accompanying tables. The
maximum load is then used to design the required solar panels and batteries on Pvsyst. PV module,
controller, battery and their characteristics are mentioned in the report. The PV panels are to be placed
on top of truck tail. The system was defined with 11.8 kWh/day average user need with a nominal
power of 5 kWp. 4 sealed gel Pb batteries each of 12 V and 160 Ah were employed (2 in series &
2 in parallel). The cost of PV panels is much less than LI-ion battery.
The problem of maintaining air quality inside the driver’s cabin is very alarming, yet not much
work has been done in this regard. The effect of proper air conditioning according to the ASHRAE

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standards of human health and thermal comfort will have a positive effect on the health of truck
drivers. It was concluded that even if the truck drivers had been satisfied with the quality of
ambient air, it would still be detrimental to their health if it is not according to the thermal comfort
standards. The inclusion of AC system in the truck cabin would help us alleviate the problem of
poor air reaching the truck drivers, and having a negative impact on their health. Consider
otherwise, that the truck drivers be provided with the proper and fresh air, they would not be
subjected to the hazards that the unconditioned air carries along with it. Having a pure air, free of
contaminants, with the ideal relative humidity level and temperature, would obviously be in the
best of interests of the drivers and it would be helpful in ensuring their well-being.
The cost analysis of the system is the foremost indication of its adaptability. The total cost of the
employment of the system is to be recovered within 5 years. The rest is absolute savings. Also, the
emissions of CO2 can be reduced up to 10% of the present value by employing this system.
Moreover, the system passes the feasibility analysis with it being a fact that there is a decent and
durable market gap. Solar power assisted air conditioning system also plays an important role in
environment sustainability. It reduces fuel consumption, air pollution, global warming and
greenhouse effect. Hence, it is concluded that solar-powered air conditioning is a productive
product that can be used in vehicles. The main advantage is that they are pollution free, echo-
friendly and economical.

7. References:
 .World Population Review. Where is Pakistan in the World? [cited 2021 August]; Available
from: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-locations/where-is-pakistan.
 World Integrated Trade Solution. Pakistan Trade Summary 2019 Data. [cited 2021 August];
Available from: https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/PAK/Year/LTST/
Summary.
 Javed, S. THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR IN PAKISTAN [cited 2021 August]; Available from:
http://www.sjbipp.org/publications/PR/projectreport/PR-14-13.pdf.
 Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 20.24 Motor Vehicles Registered. [cited 2021 August];
Available from: https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//other/yearbook2014/20.24.pdf.
 TRTA Pakistan. ROAD FREIGHT TRANSPORT SECTOR & EMERGING COMPETITIVE
DYNAMICS. [cited 2021 August]; Available from:
http://trtapakistan.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Road-freight-transport-sector-and-
emerging-competitive-dynamics_final.pdf.
 Parsons, K., ISO standards on physical environments for worker performance andproductivity.
Industrial health, 2018. 56(2): p. 93-95.
 Fanger, P.O., Thermal comfort. Analysis and applications in environmental engineering.
Thermal comfort. Analysis
 Botsford, J.H., A wet globe thermometer for environmental heat measurement. American
Industrial Hygiene Association Journal, 1971. 32(1): p. 1-10.

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 Nishi, Y., Humid Operative Temperature. A Biophisical Index of Thermal Sensation and
Discomfort. J. Physiol., 1971. 63: p. 365-368.
 Gagge, A., J.A. Stolwijk, and Y. Nishi, An effective temperature scale based on a simple
model of human physiological regulatiry response. Memoirs of the Faculty of Engineering,
Hokkaido University, 1972. 13(Suppl): p. 21-36.
 Givoni, B. and R.F. Goldman, Predicting rectal temperature response to work, environment,
and clothing. Journal of Applied Physiology, 1972. 32(6): p. 812-822.
 KERSLAKE, D.M., Radiation. The stress of hot environments, 1972: p. 47-74.
 Givoni, B. and R.F. Goldman, Predicting heart rate response to work, environment, and
clothing. Journal of Applied Physiology, 1973. 34(2): p. 201-204.
 Gonzalez, R., Y. Nishi, and A. Gagge, Experimental evaluation of standard effective
temperature a new biometeorological index of man's thermal discomfort. International journal
of biometeorology, 1974. 18(1): p. 1-15.

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