In this work, the combination of solar thermal systems with heat pumps has been numerically analyzed. Potential benefits have been studied by comparing systems that use only a heat pump with combined systems. All simulations were carried out with Polysun-6® for several climates around Europe. The simulated systems are designed to provide space heat and domestic hot water for single family houses. Results presented in this work show that the seasonal performance factor of the overall heating system increases when a solar thermal system is added for both air source and ground source heat pumps. In terms of absolute electricity savings, the benefit of adding solar thermal to a heat pump system is usually higher for air source compared to ground source based systems despite of the lower fractional electricity savings of air source based systems.

SPF Institute for Solar Technology