This paper gives an outlook on the current and future situation of solar cooling in Australia. It discusses the current potential of energy and greenhouse gas savings by using alternative solar air-conditioning technologies. Economics are discussed using a comparison of photovoltaic vapour-compression cooling against solar thermal cooling with an absorption chiller and a grid-connected reference chiller. It was found that at current economical conditions and under the given financial and technical assumptions, a solar thermal cooling system has a lower lifetime cost than a PV-based system. However, both systems have higher lifetime costs than a grid-connected conventional system. A sensitivity analysis on electricity price showed that solar thermal cooling is more economic than PV-based cooling until the electricity price exceeds $0.28/kWh_(el). A PV-based system becomes the most economic cooling alternative if the electricity price exceeds $0.54/ kWh_(el). A solar thermal system becomes more economic than a conventional system for electricity prices above of $0.67/ kWh_(el). Greenhouse gas emissions were found to be lowest for the PV-based system due to the excess power being generated over the lifetime. The solar thermal system saves approx. 75% of the emissions of the conventional system.
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