Abstract A large fraction of cooling demand depends on solar radiation intensity, therefore a strong attention was directed toward solar cooling immediately after the 1973 energy crisis. Whereas pilot solar cooling plants were built up and experimented, this technology never really took off. A recent survey reported something more than 1000 plants operating, a very modest number with respect the great potential of solar cooling. A review of technologies as they developed in the past, operate in the present with a forecasting for the future is here proposed to follow how the technology evolved during almost half a century regarding the solar section and the relative refrigeration equipment. The analysis allows to take stock of the situation selecting solar sections, cooling machines and their coupling which seem nowadays more suitable for wide application in the near future. A study is proposed at the end to put together some energy evaluations in different climates and much more difficult economical evaluations to investigate whether a possible fossil fuel parity cost can be attained, if not today, in a near future.

中文翻译：

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太阳能冷却的过去、现在和未来：技术和经济考虑

摘要 冷却需求的很大一部分取决于太阳辐射强度，因此在 1973 年能源危机之后，太阳能冷却立即受到了强烈关注。尽管试验性太阳能冷却设备已经建立并进行了试验，但这项技术从未真正起飞。最近的一项调查报告称，大约有 1000 多家工厂在运营，就太阳能冷却的巨大潜力而​​言，这个数字非常小。这里建议回顾过去发展的技术，并预测未来，以了解太阳能部分和相关制冷设备在近半个世纪中的技术发展情况。该分析允许评估选择太阳能部分的情况，现在看来更适合在不久的将来广泛应用的冷却机及其联轴器。最后提出了一项研究，将不同气候下的一些能源评估和更困难的经济评估放在一起，以调查是否可以在不久的将来实现化石燃料的平价成本，如果不是今天的话。