Improving Air-conditioners' Energy Efficiency Using Hydroponic Roof Plants

Experimental study was conducted onimproving air-conditioners' energy efficiencyusing hydroponic roof plants. The air-coolingeffect caused by the solar-shading andtranspiration of hydroponic-cultivated sweatpotato was measured. Using the measured data,it is estimated that how much the energyefficiency of an air-conditioner can be improvedif the cooled air is introduced into the outdoorunit of air-conditioners. The measured airtemperatures and cooling loads were used tocalculate the energy consumption of theair-conditioner. 1) The measurement resultsshow that the air temperature differences cooleddown by the roof plant are 1.3'C in average forclear day and 3C in average when water wassprinkled. 2) The energy consumptionestimation shows that about 1%-4% energy canbe reduced in clear days and 2%-9% energy canbe reduced if one-hour-water-sprinkle isconducted two times a day.