摘要：SummaryThe fast-growing global cooling demand due to income growth in tropical countries necessitates substantial investments in new generation capacity. Despite the synergy between the temporal behavior of cooling demand and solar PV production, it is not clear whether the increased cooling demand will make solar PV more cost-effective or less so. We use a capacity expansion model to investigate the cost-effectiveness of investing in solar PV to meet the electricity demand linked to cooling for seven different regions under various CO2emission targets. Solar PV plays a dominant role in meeting the additional electricity demand for cooling, and the share of solar PV in the additional generation capacity ranges from 64% to 135%. Additionally, powering electric cooling with mainly solar PV is cheaper than powering the rest of the demand. These results suggest that solar PV may comprise the backbone of electricity supply for cooling in the future electricity system.Graphical abstractDisplay OmittedHighlights•We evaluate the cost-optimal investment in solar PV due to the use of electric cooling•Solar PV is the most competitive generation technology to meet the demand for cooling•Electric cooling may be powered at a lower cost with solar PV than the rest of the demandApplied physics; Energy application; Materials science
