Comparison of solar-assisted heat pump with other techniques used in solar heating and cooling. Final report, July 27, 1977-May 1, 1981

Technical Report · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:5877508

Lumsdaine, E; Cherng, J; Gross, S

A solar-assisted heat pump system (SAHPS) was retrofitted to an existing solar energy collection system. Casa del sol, the solar active house at New Mexico State University. The system was instrumented, real time performance data was collected, and the system was then simulated to determine its performance for one year. The life-cycle economic analysis of the system, compared with other conventional heating methods, was determined. Performance of the unit used in the project was measured for both heating and cooling mode operations. In the heating mode, temperature of the storage tank water was maintained between 75/sup 0/F (23.9/sup 0/C) and 100/sup 0/F (37.8/sup 0/C); average daily heating load was 3.1 x 10/sup 4/ Btu (88.2 kWh). Energy delivered to the storage tank by the solar collectors (only 1/3 of existing solar collectors used) maintained the water temperature in the storage tank above 55/sup 0/F (12.8/sup 0/), the minimum source temperature for the SAHPS. Therefore, no backup heating was used during the test period. Average daily coefficient of performance (COP) of the SAHPS in the heating mode was 3.64. In the cooling mode, the heat pump unit operated independently from the solar collector and the storage system. Average daily COP of the heat pump was estimated to be about 2.0. Therefore, the tested SAHPS did show a better performance in the heating mode operation than a conventional heat pump unit. The economic analysis includes the tested system and other, less expensive SAHPS available on the market. The test unit showed a long payback period, but as the initial cost of the SAHPS is reduced and fuel prices increase, the payback period of a SAHPS will be shorter and could be competitive with other conventional heating/cooling systems.

• Research Organization: New Mexico Solar Energy Inst., Las Cruces (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5877508
• Report Number(s): NP-2900327; EMD-2-66-2201; ON: DE82900327
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140901* -- Solar Thermal Utilization-- Space Heating & Cooling
AIR CONDITIONERS
BUILDINGS
COEFFICIENT OF PERFORMANCE
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY STORAGE
ENERGY SYSTEMS
EQUIPMENT
FLAT PLATE COLLECTORS
HEAT PUMPS
HEAT STORAGE
HEATING SYSTEMS
HOUSES
PAYBACK PERIOD
PERFORMANCE TESTING
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RETROFITTING
SENSIBLE HEAT STORAGE
SIMULATION
SOLAR AIR CONDITIONERS
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR COOLING SYSTEMS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR HEATING SYSTEMS
SOLAR-ASSISTED HEAT PUMPS
STORAGE
TEST FACILITIES
TESTING