Performance and economic analyses of a hybrid solar thermal/photovoltaic‐battery energy storage (ST/PV‐BES) system for a commercial greenhouse were developed. One of the objectives of the study is to evaluate the best configuration of photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal (ST) modules, and battery energy storage size to have the minimum levelized cost of energy. The system was economically optimized. Moreover, to assess the influence of economic parameters such as ST system cost, PV system cost, natural gas price, electricity price, and large renewable procurement (LRP) rate, a series of sensitivity analyses were undertaken. The results showed that the ST system cost and natural gas price were the most effective parameters on both levelized cost of energy and payback period. The role of future evolution of electricity, fuel cost, and financial incentives (LRP rate and carbon tax) in the economic performance of the system were also analyzed.
Greenhouses consume a great deal of energy to heat their building envelopes.The strategic integration of solar energy and thermal energy storage (TES) can help to boost energy performance and reduce the carbon emission in the sector. In this paper, the benefits of adding phase change materials (PCM) to the water tank of a solar heating system have been evaluated using the Transient System Simulation (TRNSYS) program. Initially, the hourly heating load of a reference greenhouse was evaluated using TRNSYS software. The results were validated with natural gas consumption data. The validated simulation was then used to investigate the impact of PCM on the performance of a large-scale solar energy system. Four system configurations were evaluated; no PCM materials in the tank, then 20%, 40%, and 60% of the water tank volume occupied by PCM. Energy performance improvements of 10% to 14% were observed by increasing the proportion of PCM amounts over the baseline conventional system. Finally, an economic study was conducted to investigate the cost feasibility of different PCM concentrations. It was shown that PCM price, cost of natural gas, and carbon tax are the principal influence factors on the payback period.
K E Y W O R D Sgreenhouse, phase change material (PCM), solar heating system
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