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.
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November 2014
Research-Article
Modeling of an Indirect Solar Assisted Heat Pump System for a High Performance Residential House
Jenny Chu,
Jenny Chu
Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering,
e-mail: jenny.chu@carleton.ca
and Aerospace Engineering,
Carleton University
,Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6
, Canada
e-mail: jenny.chu@carleton.ca
Search for other works by this author on:
Wilkie Choi,
Wilkie Choi
Department of Mechanical
and Materials Engineering,
e-mail: choiwilkie@gmail.com
and Materials Engineering,
Queen's University
,Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
, Canada
e-mail: choiwilkie@gmail.com
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Cynthia A. Cruickshank,
Cynthia A. Cruickshank
Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering,
e-mail: cynthia.cruickshank@carleton.ca
and Aerospace Engineering,
Carleton University
,Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6
, Canada
e-mail: cynthia.cruickshank@carleton.ca
Search for other works by this author on:
Stephen J. Harrison
Stephen J. Harrison
Department of Mechanical
and Materials Engineering,
e-mail: harrison@me.queensu.ca
and Materials Engineering,
Queen's University
,Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
, Canada
e-mail: harrison@me.queensu.ca
Search for other works by this author on:
Jenny Chu
Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering,
e-mail: jenny.chu@carleton.ca
and Aerospace Engineering,
Carleton University
,Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6
, Canada
e-mail: jenny.chu@carleton.ca
Wilkie Choi
Department of Mechanical
and Materials Engineering,
e-mail: choiwilkie@gmail.com
and Materials Engineering,
Queen's University
,Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
, Canada
e-mail: choiwilkie@gmail.com
Cynthia A. Cruickshank
Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering,
e-mail: cynthia.cruickshank@carleton.ca
and Aerospace Engineering,
Carleton University
,Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6
, Canada
e-mail: cynthia.cruickshank@carleton.ca
Stephen J. Harrison
Department of Mechanical
and Materials Engineering,
e-mail: harrison@me.queensu.ca
and Materials Engineering,
Queen's University
,Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
, Canada
e-mail: harrison@me.queensu.ca
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received September 19, 2013; final manuscript received April 11, 2014; published online May 13, 2014. Assoc. Editor: Werner Platzer.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Nov 2014, 136(4): 041003 (9 pages)
Published Online: May 13, 2014
Article history
Received:
September 19, 2013
Revision Received:
April 11, 2014
Citation
Chu, J., Choi, W., Cruickshank, C. A., and Harrison, S. J. (May 13, 2014). "Modeling of an Indirect Solar Assisted Heat Pump System for a High Performance Residential House." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. November 2014; 136(4): 041003. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4027486
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