Study on the performance of the multi-cooling source hybrid energy system in data centers under different climate conditions

Hybrid energy systems can effectively reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of data centers by coupling the utilization of natural cold sources with renewable energy sources. However, the applicability of a hybrid energy system varies significantly depending on climatic regions and energy market conditions, and an in-depth study is necessary. In this paper, a hybrid energy system integrates a multi-source cooling system, Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) technology, and a waste heat recovery system is studied in 20 cities across five climate regions in China. The performance of the studied hybrid system, the existing system and a conventional system is simulated and analyzed based on a case data center. The results indicate that the energy consumption of the hybrid system is 17.02%-78.57% lower than that of other two systems, respectively. In terms of carbon emissions reduction, the hybrid system decreases emissions by 69.32%-78.22% compared to the existing system and by 17.09%-30.35% compared to the conventional system. Economically, the life cycle cost (LCC) of the hybrid system is 4%-18% lower than that of the conventional system. However, in regions with severe cold weather and low resource prices, the hybrid system's economic performance is inferior to that of the existing system.