Innorma R&D, the R&D start-up of Solimpeks, developed and prototyped an indirect evaporative cooler between 2021 and 2023 with support from KOSGEB's R&D, P&D and Innovation Support Programme (Ar-Ge, Ür-Ge ve İnovasyon Destek Programı). The project, titled "Indirect Evaporative Cooler Development and Prototype Production", was the first step in a cooling research line that Innorma continued with TÜBİTAK support in 2024–2025. This article sets out what the project aimed to do, how it connects to our later solar-assisted cooler, and where the research has been published.
What was the KOSGEB project?
The KOSGEB project was a 2021–2023 programme to design, build and test a prototype indirect evaporative cooler. Innorma R&D lists it among its projects as a KOSGEB "R&D, P&D and Innovation Support Program" project. Its Turkish title is "Dolaylı Evaporatif Soğutucu Geliştirme ve Prototip Üretimi" (Indirect Evaporative Cooler Development and Prototype Production), and the project card is titled "Indirect Evaporative Cooler Design and Testing".
The project's stated goals were:
- to develop an evaporative cooling system as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional air conditioning;
- to target places with lower cooling needs, such as homes, data centres and the food industry;
- to provide cooling close to dew-point temperature;
- to stay in line with global and national energy-efficiency policies.
Why indirect evaporative cooling?
Indirect evaporative cooling uses the evaporation of water to cool air without adding moisture to the air that enters the room. That is the key difference from a direct evaporative cooler, which humidifies the air it cools.
In an indirect unit, a secondary ("working") air stream is cooled by evaporating water. It then takes heat from the primary ("product") air stream through a heat-exchanger wall, so the two streams never mix. The cooling medium is plain water and air, not a synthetic refrigerant.
That is why the concept fits the KOSGEB project's targets. Data centres and food processing both need cooling where extra humidity is unwelcome. Homes with moderate cooling loads are the third target. Aiming for dew-point rather than wet-bulb temperature sets a demanding goal: the dew point is the lower limit an evaporative process can approach. Reaching it requires careful heat-exchanger design.
What came after the KOSGEB prototype?
The work continued as a TÜBİTAK 1507 (SME R&D Start-up Support) project in 2024–2025, titled "Solar Assisted Cooler System". This phase added solar power to the indirect evaporative cooler so that it can run with less dependence on grid electricity.
According to the project team's report on the TÜBİTAK phase:
| Item | Reported result | | --- | --- | | Prototypes | Two versions (Prototype A and Prototype B), tested in a climate-controlled room | | Flow layout | CFD analysis (Ansys) indicated that a counter-flow configuration generally performed better | | Maximum COP | 8.92 | | Cooling vs. power | About 3.12 kW of cooling for about 350 W of electrical input | | PV sizing | About 780 Wp of PV, with MPPT and an inverter, estimated to cover the cooler's annual electricity need | | Refrigerant | None: the system works with water and air |
The team reported that Prototype A generally reached the higher COP. Prototype B produced larger temperature drops at higher ambient temperatures. These are the project team's reported figures from the TÜBİTAK phase, which built on the KOSGEB prototype. Independent performance testing is the next milestone.
Has the research been published?
Yes, related work from the same team has appeared in a peer-reviewed journal. Mahmut Sami Büker (Necmettin Erbakan University) and Ahmet Emre Onay and Ahmet Ertan (Innorma ArGe A.Ş., Konya) published "Experimental performance evaluation of a novel indirect evaporative cooler with optimized heat exchanger design" in Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 279 (2025), article 128072. The paper shows the team's continued experimental work on indirect evaporative coolers. Readers who want the measured data should consult the paper directly.
How does this fit Solimpeks' R&D?
The KOSGEB cooler belongs to a wider programme of publicly supported R&D carried out by Solimpeks and Innorma R&D. Solimpeks, established in 2001 on experience in solar heating that goes back to 1977, exports to 96+ countries and has carried out 8 TÜBİTAK-supported projects since 2009. On the Innorma side, the list includes:
- TÜBİTAK 1707 projects with Solimpeks (2022–2024): a plug-and-play boiler and a solar collector with a new-generation absorber surface;
- a TÜBİTAK 1507 solar-assisted atmospheric water generator (2023–2024);
- the EU-backed SynergistEIC accelerator (2023–2024);
- Innorma's participation in the EU CETPartnership OPTIX project on positive-energy districts.
Cooling is a natural extension of this portfolio. Solimpeks' core business is renewable heating: solar collectors, PV-T panels, storage tanks and heat pumps. The project team names Mediterranean-climate countries, including Türkiye, and the MENA region as target regions for the cooler: sunny climates where cooling is needed for much of the year. A refrigerant-free, low-power cooler that can run from a few hundred watts of PV complements solar heating in the same climates.
What are the next steps?
The remaining steps are to turn the prototype results into validated product data and to decide on applications. The KOSGEB project defined the concept and its first prototype. The TÜBİTAK phase added solar integration and reported its performance figures.
Before any commercial product is announced, the next milestones are:
- independent performance testing;
- durability evaluation;
- a clear definition of rated conditions.
We will share those results as they become available.
Sources
- Innorma R&D, "Ar-Ge Projeleri / R&D Projects" (project list, TR and EN), innorma.com/arge-projeleri (accessed 25 Sep 2026)
- Innorma R&D, project description "Dolaylı Evaporatif Soğutucu Tasarım ve Test Edilmesi / Indirect Evaporative Cooler Design and Testing", innorma.com/arge-projeleri?dil=EN
- Innorma R&D, "Güneş enerjili soğutucu sistemi / Solar Assisted Cooler System" (TÜBİTAK 1507, 2024–2025), innorma.com/arge-projeleri/2
- Innorma R&D project team, internal report on the TÜBİTAK 1507 solar-assisted indirect evaporative cooler (2025)
- Büker M.S., Onay A.E., Ertan A., "Experimental performance evaluation of a novel indirect evaporative cooler with optimized heat exchanger design", Applied Thermal Engineering 279 (2025) 128072, doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.128072
- KOSGEB, "Ar-Ge, Ür-Ge ve İnovasyon Destek Programı", kosgeb.gov.tr
