In 1982, a solar-assisted ice-maker heat pump system was installed at the Atomic Information Center of an electric company in Limerick, Pa. The system provides the majority of the heating and cooling to the building.

The project is demonstrating the feasibility of a solar-assisted ice-maker heat pump for space heating and off-peak generation of ice for cooling. Additionally, the system was retrofitted to an existing structure and its heating and air-conditioning systems to test the feasibility of such a retrofit.

This paper describes the structure and its usage, the air-conditioning loads, the design details of the system, the methods of monitoring the system’s performance, and the operation of the equipment during the past two years. The design problems and remedial work performed to correct them are discussed in detail.