Solar Trigeneration: a Transitory Simulation of HVAC Systems Using Different Typologies of Hybrid Panels

Abstract

The high energy demand on buildings requires efficient installations and the integration of renewable energy to achieve the goal of reducing energy consumption using traditional energy sources. Usually, solar energy generation and heating loads have different profiles along a day and their maximums take place at different moments. In addition, in months in which solar production is higher, the heating demands are the minimum (hot water is consumed only domestically in summer). Cooling machines (absorption and adsorption) allow using thermal energy to chill a fluid. This heat flow rate could be recovered from solar collectors or any other heat source. The aim of this study is to integrate different typologies of solar hybrid (photovoltaic and thermal) collectors with cooling machines getting solar trigeneration and concluding the optimal combination for building applications. The heat recovered from the photovoltaic module is used to provide energy to these cooling machines getting a double effect: to get a better efficiency on PV modules and to cool the building. In this document the authors analyse these installations, their operating conditions, dimensions and parameters, in order to get the optimal installation in three different European cities. This work suggests that in a family house in Madrid, the optimal combination is to use CPVT with azimuthally tracking and absorption machine. In this case, the solar trigeneration system using 55 m 2 of collector area saves the cooling loads and 79% of the heating load in the house round the year.

Experimental Comparison of Flat Plate and Evacuated Tube Solar Thermal Collectors for Domestic Hot Water Preparation in Education Facilities

“…The solar thermal system (Figure 2 and Figure 3) consists of six FP (1) and three ET (2) solar thermal collectors installed on the rooftop at an optimal tilt angle of 42° (Figure 2a). The thermal energy is stored in a 300 L tank (3) where DHW is heated up to 60 °C and, after this temperature is reached, the exceeding thermal energy is transferred through a Heat Exchanger (HX) in two tanks of 1,000 L each (4) where the storage temperature is increased up to 100 °C. A gas condensing boiler is used as a backup source when the solar energy is scarce.…”

“…This energy amount depends on the number of users, the temperature of the cold water and the specific DHW consumption that is related to the building/activity type [2]. Thus, this energy demand is rather constant over the year, in contrast to the thermal energy demand for space heating/cooling which is seasonally dependent [3]. Currently, mostly fossil fuels are used to meet the thermal energy demand in the built environment [4], lately, solar thermal systems were increasingly implemented in buildings mainly for DHW [5] along with other renewable energy systems [6] but also for space heating [7], enhancing the building's sustainability and supporting the target of nearly Zero Energy Building status [8].…”

Performance Analysis of a Hybrid District Heating System: a Case Study of a Small Town in Croatia

“…It is widely accepted that the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or trigeneration [14,15] plants are an energy-efficient technology due to simultaneous production of heat and electricity. CHP generation may result in consistent energy conservation up to 30% [16] and could contribute to grid energy balancing processes with a large number of renewable energy systems [17,18].…”

Integration of a Photovoltaic System with an Electric Heat Pump and Electrical Energy Storage Serving an Office Building

“…Different ways could be considered to obtain these results: in the last decade great efforts have been concentrated in the use of renewable technologies. Solar thermal Heating and Cooling (SHC) plants have been evaluated for tertiary field applications [2] considering adsorption [3] or absorption chillers [4]. A solar-activated system to meet cooling and heating loads could be made up with the introduction of a Photovoltaic (PV) plant feeding an Electric-driven Heat Pump (EHP).…”