Simulation and parametric study of a building integrated transpired solar collector heat pump system for a multifamily building cluster in Sweden

Abstract

Solar integrated building envelopes represent a significant energy harvesting potential in an era of decentralized building energy systems. This paper aims to simulate an energy system that consists of a transpired air solar collector component for a multifamily building cluster in Sweden. The energy system consists of an unglazed transpired solar collector in conjunction with air ventilation unit and exhaust air heat pump. The hot air from the solar collectors is used to increase the brine temperature at heat pump evaporator inlet to improve its coefficient of performance. The exhaust air heat pump is used to meet space heating and hot water demand for the buildings. The energy system is modelled using TRNSYS simulation program. The associated controls of the energy systems are optimized to increase the seasonal performance factor of the complete system, while maintaining the optimal performance of various subsystems. The quantification of the energetic benefits obtained from the proposed energy system is also presented using various key performance indicators. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis of different collector areas and operating variables such as airflow rate of the collector is conducted. The results show that the seasonal performance of the simulated energy system is 1.43 and the annual collector utilization factor is 0.18. Furthermore, the variation of the collector airflow rate has a positive impact on system performance, with an increase of 2 % in the annual heat pump coefficient of performance.