Influence of photovoltaic installation on energy performance of a nursery building in Warsaw (Central European conditions)

• Published in: Journal of Building Engineering 2020-11, Vol.32, p.101630, Article 101630
• Main Authors: Marchwiński, Janusz, Kurtz-Orecka, Karolina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Delivered energy; Energy balance; Energy demands; Energy performance indicators; Energy-saving construction of nurseries; Photovoltaic system (PV); Photovoltaics in construction; Primary energy
• ISSN: 2352-7102; 2352-7102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101630

Nowadays, high energy efficiency and low environmental impact of buildings are required, regardless of external climate conditions. This demand is essential in the case of nursery buildings, due to strict requirements concerning indoor temperature. The following study investigates the effects of various solutions applied for energy supply to nursery buildings in reference to their energy performance indicators in the cold climate of Central Europe by analyzing various heat source and PV installation setups. A gas boiler and two heat pumps types were tested as the heat source, together with varying PV installation configurations. Nursery building computation model was diversified in terms of ventilation. Both natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery were tested. A total of 24 variants were suggested and analysed by computation of monthly and annual energy demands. The study was intended to determine the importance of PV installation in nursery buildings for Central European conditions. The analysis of the results indicated that for buildings where power is mostly supplied by electricity, application of PV installations exerts most significant impact on their energy performance indicators. The contribution of clean renewable energy was greatest for the building model with cascade of air-source heat pumps and 60 kWp PV installation. Apart from no PV installation variants, the lowest impact of PV installation was observed in the naturally ventilated building model with gas condensing boiler as the heat source and with 10 kWp PV installation. The present research is applicable for designing energy supply solutions for early education buildings. •Combination of PV installation with various heating and ventilation strategies tested (24 configurations).•PV power increase affects positively the energy efficiency of nursery buildings.•PV modules with air-source heat pump and natural ventilation-recommendable.