Solomon Islands - Demonstration of Sheltering Effect on AC Operational Efficiency
Name of applicant: Solomon Islands Refrigeration and Air conditioning Association (SIRAC)
Project duration: 06/2019 - 12/2021
The project's design is to improve split air conditioning cooling efficiency and reduce its power consumption. The high electricity rate here in Honiara, Solomon Islands, gives hefty electricity bills to end-users in the buildings. As can be seen, the Solomon Islands ranked among the top highest electricity rate compare to other pacific islands countries. The hot and high humidity in Honiara contributes to the need for air conditioners for large organizations like government offices, private sectors and business houses as they are very essential for human comfort and conditioning of equipment. According to Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification, the two biggest importing electrical appliances into the Solomon Islands are refrigerators and air conditioners. They have a very big impact as far as the electricity bill is a concern.
The demonstration project is geared to perform energy savings and improve efficiency to existing split air conditioning existed in buildings in Honiara. The reduction of power consumption will obviously reduce the burning of fossil fuels which is the only means of power supply generation in Honiara. Burning of fossil fuels to release carbon dioxide (Greenhouse Gases) contributes to global warming.
Moreover, it will greatly assist the energy section in the government ministry to adapt or design policies that reflect national and global concerns regarding energy standard uses of electrical appliances and the use of low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants. Solomon Islands is a member of Pacific Appliance Labelling Standard (PALS) that currently in the initial stage in working at developing policies that specifically concern with all electrical appliances importation with regards to their efficiencies and labeling. The development of policies from this pilot project will certainly determine the standards that will impose on the importation of split air conditioners with regards to type and the refrigerant.
The main target of this cooling demo project is focusing mainly on government and tertiary institutions (Solomon Islands National University) for a start where they have a huge number of split air conditioners. Then it could spread on to other sectors and organizations depending on the success of this project. This project’s primary locations will be located at National Medical Stores (Government) and the other two locations at the School of Fisheries and Marine Studies (Solomon Islands National University), SINU.
