Operation strategy and performance analyses of a distributed energy system incorporating concentrating PV/T and air source heat pump for heating supply

• Published in: Applied energy 2023-07, Vol.341, p.121125, Article 121125
• Main Authors: Chen, Zhidong, Su, Chao, Wu, Zexuan, Wang, Weijia, Chen, Lei, Yang, Lijun, Kong, Yanqiang, Du, Xiaoze
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air source heat hump; Concentrating photovoltaic/thermal; Distributed energy system; Economic analysis; Operation strategy; Thermodynamic analysis
• ISSN: 0306-2619
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121125

•Distributed energy system integrating concentrating PV/T and air source heat pump for domestic heating supply.•Operation strategy aiming to enhance the system performance under different working conditions.•Operation parameters of the concentrating PV/T can be regulated according to the real-time DNI and heating load.•Operation mode of the air source heat pump can be shifted according to the real-time heating load and ambient temperature.•The proposed system is subject to thermodynamic and economic analyses. The distributed energy system incorporating solar energy plays an important role in saving fossil fuels to realize the goal of carbon neutrality. In this paper, a distributed energy system integrating concentrating photovoltaic/thermal with air source heat pump is proposed for domestic heating. The thermodynamic characteristics of the concentrating photovoltaic/thermal and air source heat pump under different working conditions are analyzed, based on which an operation strategy of the two subsystems is developed aiming at operation performance enhancement. Besides, the thermodynamic and economic performances of the proposed system are evaluated through a case study for supplying a building load on four typical days during the heating period. The results show that the highest exergy efficiency of the proposed system can reach up to 40.23 %, with the corresponding average COP of 5.06 for the air source heat pump. The annual cost is 24.22 USD/m2, with the 7572.20 USD saved thanks to the concentrating PV/T produced electricity and thermal energy.