Modelling of an Indirect Solar-Assisted Heat Pump System for a High Performance Residential House

Author(s):  
Jenny Chu ◽  
Cynthia A. Cruickshank ◽  
Wilkie Choi ◽  
Stephen J. Harrison

Heat pumps are commonly used for residential space-heating and cooling. The combination of solar thermal and heat pump systems as a single solar-assisted heat pump (SAHP) system can significantly reduce residential energy consumption in Canada. As a part of Team Ontario’s efforts to develop a high performance house for the 2013 DOE Solar Decathlon Competition, an integrated mechanical system (IMS) consisting of a SAHP was investigated. The system is designed to provide domestic hot water, space-heating, space-cooling and dehumidification. The system included a cold and a hot thermal storage tank and a heat pump to move energy from the low temperature reservoir, to the hot. The solar thermal collectors supplies heat to the cold storage and operate at a higher efficiency due to the heat pump reducing the temperature of the collector working fluid. The combination of the heat pump and solar thermal collectors allows more heat to be harvested at a lower temperature, and then boosted to a suitable temperature for domestic use via the heat pump. The IMS and the building’s energy loads were modeled using the TRNSYS simulation software. A parametric study was conducted to optimize the control, sizing and configuration of the system. This paper provides an overview of the model and summarizes the results of the study. The simulation results suggested that the investigated system can achieve a free energy ratio of about 0.583 for a high performance house designed for the Ottawa climate.

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Chu ◽  
Wilkie Choi ◽  
Cynthia A. Cruickshank ◽  
Stephen J. Harrison

The combination of solar thermal and heat pump systems as a single solar assisted heat pump (SAHP) system can significantly reduce residential energy consumption in Canada. As a part of Team Ontario's efforts to develop a high performance house for the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon 2013 Competition, an integrated mechanical system (IMS) consisting of a SAHP was investigated. The system was designed to provide domestic hot water (DHW), space-heating, space-cooling, and dehumidification. The system included a cold and a hot thermal storage tanks and a heat pump to move energy from the low temperature reservoir to the hot reservoir. Solar thermal collectors supplied heat to the cold storage and operated at a higher efficiency due to the heat pump reducing the temperature of the collector working fluid. The combination of the heat pump and solar thermal collectors allows more heat to be harvested at a lower temperature, and then boosted to a suitable temperature for domestic use via the heat pump. The IMS and the building's energy loads were modeled using the TRNSYS simulation software. A parametric study was conducted to optimize the control, sizing, and configuration of the system. The simulation results suggested that the investigated system can achieve a free energy ratio (FER) of about 0.583 for the high performance house designed for the Ottawa climate.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farzin M. Rad

This thesis presents a study for examining the viability of hybrid ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems that use solar thermal collectors as the supplemental component in heating dominated buildings. Loads for an actual house in the City of Milton near Toronto were estimated. TRNSYS, a system simulation software tool, was used to model the yearly performance of conventional GSHP as well as the proposed hybrid GSHP system. The house was equipped with a data monitoring system which was installed to read and record fluid flow, temperature and electricity consumption in different components of the system. The actual yearly data collected from the site was examined against the simulation results. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between the solar collector area and the ground loop heat exchanger (GHX) length. It was shown that the ratio of GHX length reduction to solar panel area of 4.7 m/m This study demonstrates that a hybrid GSHP system, combined with solar thermal collectors, is a feasible choice for space conditioning for heating dominated houses. It was shown that the solar thermal energy storage in the ground could reduce a large amount of ground loop heat exchanger length. Combining three solar thermal collectors with a total area of 6.81m


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farzin M. Rad

This thesis presents a study for examining the viability of hybrid ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems that use solar thermal collectors as the supplemental component in heating dominated buildings. Loads for an actual house in the City of Milton near Toronto were estimated. TRNSYS, a system simulation software tool, was used to model the yearly performance of conventional GSHP as well as the proposed hybrid GSHP system. The house was equipped with a data monitoring system which was installed to read and record fluid flow, temperature and electricity consumption in different components of the system. The actual yearly data collected from the site was examined against the simulation results. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between the solar collector area and the ground loop heat exchanger (GHX) length. It was shown that the ratio of GHX length reduction to solar panel area of 4.7 m/m This study demonstrates that a hybrid GSHP system, combined with solar thermal collectors, is a feasible choice for space conditioning for heating dominated houses. It was shown that the solar thermal energy storage in the ground could reduce a large amount of ground loop heat exchanger length. Combining three solar thermal collectors with a total area of 6.81m


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toktam Saeid

In October 2009, Team North competed in the US DOE 2009 Solar Decathlon competition. Team North's mission was to design and deliver North House, an energy efficient solar-powered home while training Canada's next generation of leaders in sustainable design. In North House, the PV system on the roof was the primary energy generation, complimented by a custom PV cladding system on the south, east and west facades. A solar assisted heat pump system, including a three-tank heat transfer and storage system, the horizontally mounted evacuated-tube solar thermal collectors on the roof and a variable capacity heat pump met the hot water and space heating demands. A second variable capacity heat pump was utilized for space cooling. The solar thermal system was studied using TRNSYS simulation. For the initial assessments the simulations were run for Baltimore. Then, the analyses were extended to different cities across Canada. In all scenarios the same house was linked to the system. The minimum annual solar fraction of the different cities was 64% and it rose up to 81%. Finally, the data measured during the competition were analyzed and compared with the data resulting from the simulation. According to competition measures, during the 10 days of competition in Washington DC, the PV system generated 271.6kWh of electricity and the solar thermal system produced 91.7kWh while the house consumption was 294.1kWh. As a result, North House was evidently a net-positive house.


2012 ◽  
Vol 238 ◽  
pp. 478-481
Author(s):  
Zhen Qing Wang ◽  
Yan Chen ◽  
Hai Xia Wang

An air source heat pump system (ASHPS) was set up, which provided space heating and cooling, as well as hot water for an office building in Tianjin. Its operating performance in winter was evaluated based on test data. Considering the local abundant solar radiation and the way to provide energy in an office building, a simulation study was carried out on the combsystem of ASHP and flat plate air collector (FPAC). The effects of collector area and its outlet parameters on the heating performance of ASHP were studied, and the favorable operating and matching mode were recommended. The results indicate that ASHPS is a technically viable method in Tianjin in winter, but not economically, and the air-solar combsystem should be taken into account for its massive replacement for conventional energy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toktam Saeid

In October 2009, Team North competed in the US DOE 2009 Solar Decathlon competition. Team North's mission was to design and deliver North House, an energy efficient solar-powered home while training Canada's next generation of leaders in sustainable design. In North House, the PV system on the roof was the primary energy generation, complimented by a custom PV cladding system on the south, east and west facades. A solar assisted heat pump system, including a three-tank heat transfer and storage system, the horizontally mounted evacuated-tube solar thermal collectors on the roof and a variable capacity heat pump met the hot water and space heating demands. A second variable capacity heat pump was utilized for space cooling. The solar thermal system was studied using TRNSYS simulation. For the initial assessments the simulations were run for Baltimore. Then, the analyses were extended to different cities across Canada. In all scenarios the same house was linked to the system. The minimum annual solar fraction of the different cities was 64% and it rose up to 81%. Finally, the data measured during the competition were analyzed and compared with the data resulting from the simulation. According to competition measures, during the 10 days of competition in Washington DC, the PV system generated 271.6kWh of electricity and the solar thermal system produced 91.7kWh while the house consumption was 294.1kWh. As a result, North House was evidently a net-positive house.


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