High Market Potential Applications for PVT with Heat Pumps

Within the heat pump sector, there are applications where photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) collectors can offer greater value with lower investment costs than the current alternatives. The first is ground source heat pumps (GSHP) with under dimensioned boreholes. The second is a solar source heat pump (SSHP) where the PVT collectors are a replacement for the traditional air heat exchanger in an air source heat pump (ASHP). Complete systems models for a multi-family house are simulated in TRNSYS to determine seasonal performance factors (SPF), which are then compared technically and economically to each respective alternative. A 156 m(2) PVT array is capable of improving the SPF of a degraded GSHP by 30%, the same gains as drilling additional boreholes but at a lower cost. The SSHP with a 235 m(2) PVT array can reach an SPF of 2.6, comparable to the performance of an ASHP, but has the cost of a GSHP. Already today, PVT can economically compete with borehole drilling for GSHP and the SSHP concept shows enough market potential to warrant investment and development towards broader adoption.
Part of ISBN 978-3-9820408-2-0QC 20230921