Performance analysis of solar assisted heat pump coupled with build-in PCM heat storage based on PV/T panel

• Published in: Solar energy 2020-02, Vol.197, p.279-291
• Main Authors: Yao, Jian, Xu, Hui, Dai, Yanjun, Huang, Mingjun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air conditioning; Ambient temperature; Build-in PCM heat storage; Computer simulation; Electricity distribution; Evaporators; Heat; Heat exchangers; Heat pump; Heat pumps; Heat storage; Heating; Heating/power generation; Modules; Phase change materials; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaics; PV/T; Residential energy; Residential heating; Solar energy; Solar radiation; Utilization; Water circulation; Wind speed
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.01.002

•A solar PV/T heat pump is proposed for residential heating in high latitude area.•Design of build-in PCM heat storage unit is proposed and simulated.•The overall efficiency of this solar PV/T heat pump system can reach above 75%. PV/T (photovoltaic/thermal) technology is a combination of PV module (photovoltaic utilization) and collector (photothermal utilization), which can improve the comprehensive utilization efficiency of solar energy and has a broad application prospect. In this paper, PV/T module is coupled with heat pump evaporator to form a direct-expansion solar PV/T heat pump which is suitable for heat application in high latitude area. To achieve stable residential heating, a solar PV/T heat pump system coupled with build-in PCM (phase change material) heat storage is therefore proposed and simulated. Meanwhile, the mathematical model of solar PV/T heat pump coupled with build-in PCM heat storage system is established and verified. The simulation results show that the temperature of underfloor heating which using build-in PCM heat storage can reach 22–31 °C after 39 h when the circulating water is 40 °C. Moreover, the heating COP (Coefficient of Performance) increases with the increase of solar radiation, ambient temperature and area of PV/T collector, and decrease of wind speed, respectively. A 20 m2 PV/T panel module can output 21.4% of the electricity to power grid when the solar radiation intensity is 600 W/m2 and meet the heat demand of a 100 m2 room while maintain the operation of the system. Meanwhile, the heating COP can reach 5.79 which is 70% higher than the conventional air conditioning system and the electrical, thermal, overall efficiencies are 17.77%, 55.76% and 75.49%, respectively.