In this work, we present an absorption cooling system with 35 kW capacity driven by solar thermal energy, installed in the school of Puertecitos, Mexico, an off-grid community with a high level of social marginalization. The cooling system provides thermal comfort to the school’s classrooms through four 8.75-kW cooling coils, while a 110-m² field of evacuated tube solar collectors delivers the thermal energy needed to activate the cooling machine. The characteristics of the equipment installed in the school were used for simulation and operative analysis of the system under the influence of typical factors of an isolated coastal community, such as the influence of climate, thermal load, and water consumption in the cooling tower, among others. The aim of this simulation study was to determine the best operating conditions prior to system start-up, to establish the requirements for external heating and cooling services, and to quantify the freshwater requirements for the proper functioning of the system. The results show that, with the simulated strategies implemented, with a maximum load operation, the system can maintain thermal comfort in the classrooms for five days of classes. This is feasible as long as weekends are dedicated to raising the water temperature in the thermal storage tank. As the total capacity of the system is distributed in the four cooling coils, it is possible to control the cooling demand in order to extend the operation periods. Utilizing 75% or less of the cooling capacity, the system can operate continuously, taking advantage of stored energy. The cooling tower requires about 750 kg of water per day, which becomes critical given the scarcity of this resource in the community.

This paper proposes the configuration of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) coupled to a solar domestic hot water system (SDHWS) with the purpose of analyzing the cogeneration capacity of the system. A simulation of the SDHWS was conducted at different temperatures, observing its performance to determine the amounts of useable heat generated by the solar collector; thus, from an energy balance point of view, the amount of heat that may be used by the ORC could be determined. The working fluid that would be suitable for the temperatures and pressures in the system was selected. The best fluid for the given conditions of superheated vapor at 120 °C and 604 kPa and a condensation temperature of 60 °C and 115 kPa was acetone. The main parameters for the expander thermodynamic design that may be used by the ORC were obtained, with the possibility of generating 443 kWh of annual electric energy with 6.65% global efficiency of solar to electric power, or an overall efficiency of the cogeneration system of 56.35% with a solar collector of 2.84 m².