A UK-based assessment of hybrid PV and solar-thermal systems for domestic heating and power: System performance
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Herrando, M
Markides, CN
Hellgardt, K
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to assess the suitability of hybrid PVT systems for the provision of electricity and
hot water (space heating is not considered) in the UK domestic sector, with particular focus on a typical
terraced house in London. A model is developed to estimate the performance of such a system. The model
allows various design parameters of the PVT unit to be varied, so that their influence in the overall system
performance can be studied. Two key parameters, specifically the covering factor of the solar collector
with PV and the collector flow-rate, are considered. The emissions of the PVT system are compared with
those incurred by a household that utilises a conventional energy provision arrangement. The results
show that for the case of the UK (low solar irradiance and low ambient temperatures) a complete coverage
of the solar collector with PV together with a low collector flow-rate are beneficial in allowing the
system to achieve a high coverage of the total annual energy (heat and power) demand, while maximising
the CO2 emissions savings. It is found that with a completely covered collector and a flow-rate of 20 L/h,
51% of the total electricity demand and 36% of the total hot water demand over a year can be covered
by a hybrid PVT system. The electricity demand coverage value is slightly higher than the PV-only system
equivalent (49%). In addition, our emissions assessment indicates that a PVT system can save up to
16.0 tonnes of CO2 over a lifetime of 20 years, which is significantly (36%) higher than the 11.8 tonnes
of CO2 saved with a PV-only system. All investigated PVT configurations outperformed the PV-only system
in terms of emissions. Therefore, it is concluded that hybrid PVT systems offer a notably improved
proposition over PV-only systems.
hot water (space heating is not considered) in the UK domestic sector, with particular focus on a typical
terraced house in London. A model is developed to estimate the performance of such a system. The model
allows various design parameters of the PVT unit to be varied, so that their influence in the overall system
performance can be studied. Two key parameters, specifically the covering factor of the solar collector
with PV and the collector flow-rate, are considered. The emissions of the PVT system are compared with
those incurred by a household that utilises a conventional energy provision arrangement. The results
show that for the case of the UK (low solar irradiance and low ambient temperatures) a complete coverage
of the solar collector with PV together with a low collector flow-rate are beneficial in allowing the
system to achieve a high coverage of the total annual energy (heat and power) demand, while maximising
the CO2 emissions savings. It is found that with a completely covered collector and a flow-rate of 20 L/h,
51% of the total electricity demand and 36% of the total hot water demand over a year can be covered
by a hybrid PVT system. The electricity demand coverage value is slightly higher than the PV-only system
equivalent (49%). In addition, our emissions assessment indicates that a PVT system can save up to
16.0 tonnes of CO2 over a lifetime of 20 years, which is significantly (36%) higher than the 11.8 tonnes
of CO2 saved with a PV-only system. All investigated PVT configurations outperformed the PV-only system
in terms of emissions. Therefore, it is concluded that hybrid PVT systems offer a notably improved
proposition over PV-only systems.
Date Issued
2014-03-12
Date Acceptance
2014-01-29
Citation
Applied Energy, 2014, 122, pp.288-309
ISSN
1872-9118
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
288
End Page
309
Journal / Book Title
Applied Energy
Volume
122
Copyright Statement
© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY license.
License URL
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Energy & Fuels
Engineering, Chemical
Engineering
ENERGY & FUELS
ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL
Hybrid PV
Domestic UK energy demand
Heat and power provision
Solar energy
System performance
ENERGY-SYSTEMS
HOT-WATER
ELECTRICITY
COLLECTOR
GENERATION
CIRCULATION
VALIDATION
TRNSYS
STATES
YIELD
Publication Status
Published