Cooling

Switzerland is particularly affected by climate change: while the global average temperature has risen by 1.2°C so far, the average temperature in Switzerland has already increased by 2°C since 1864. Especially in cities, the heat stress is particularly high. Sealed surfaces, the lack of green areas and the limited wind circulation due to dense development as well as the waste heat from industry and traffic contribute to the heat island effect, which increases heating during the day and significantly reduces cooling at night.

With increasing heating, cooling is becoming necessary for more and more buildings. According to Swiss standards, cooling is necessary for existing buildings if the room temperature is above 26.5°C for more than 400 hours per year (whereby the verification must be carried out with a dynamic simulation program). This is where another advantage of heat pumps comes into play: they can be used for both heating and cooling. The resulting electricity demand can be generated by photovoltaic systems as cooling and thus also the electricity demand are highest in summer at noon – and this is exactly when photovoltaic systems generate the most electricity.


Back to know-how