Design and Evaluation of a Photovoltaic/Thermal-Assisted Heat Pump Water Heating System

Abstract

This paper presents the design, modelling and performance evaluation of a photovoltaic/thermal-assisted heat pump water heating (PVTA-HPWH) system. The cooling effect of a refrigerant simultaneously enhances the PVT efficiency and effectively improves the coefficient of performance (COP) of the HPWH system. The proposed model was built in the MATLAB/Simulink environment by considering the reciprocal energy exchange between a PVT evaporator and a HPWH system. In addition, the power consumption needs of the HPWH are provided by the PV electricity using a model-based control methodology. System performance is evaluated through a real field test. The results have demonstrated the power autarchy of the proposed PVTA-HPWH system with better PVT efficiency and COP. In addition, the good agreement between the model simulation and the experimental measurements demonstrate the proposed model with sufficient confidence.

Keywords

• photovoltaic/thermal-assisted heat pump water heating (PVTA-HPWH)
• PVT evaporator
• coefficient of performance (COP)