September 1, 2003 - Waikoloa Beach Marriott

Cooling with the sun sounds like an oxymoron. But with the right technology, the sun can be used not just for heating but for air conditioning too. That's what's happening on a lava field behind the Waikoloa Beach Marriott, an Outrigger resort, courtesy of a partnership between HELCO, Energy Industries, a new start-up company called "Sopogy" and the hotel facilities management.

A high performance, solar thermal panel is now capturing the sun's energy to produce hot water, which can be used for hotel operations, as well as to drive a lithium bromide absorption chiller for the hotel's air conditioning "We hit 236 degrees C with our pressurized hot water/glycol mixture last month!" says David Cattle, HELCO Account Manager. "I've been impressed with the performance of the panel" says Sam Walker, the hotel's director of Engineering.

The combined solar thermal and cooling system is a relatively new technology so HELCO choose to demonstrate this new technology in partnership with the resort and Energy Industries. This solar concentrating system uses similar technology to those used in homes to collect the sun's heat for hot water. The system can also be used to produce electrical power via a turbine traditionally fired by oil, gas, or coal; fossil fuels are deployed when the sun is not available.

For more information on this project please contact Sales Representative Darren Kimura at darren.kimura@energy-industries.com