Economic and Energetic Assessment and Comparison of Solar Heating and Cooling Systems

Boris Delač, Branimir Pavković () and Vladimir Glažar
Additional contact information
Boris Delač: Department of Thermodynamics and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Vukovarska 58, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Branimir Pavković: Department of Thermodynamics and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Vukovarska 58, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Vladimir Glažar: Department of Thermodynamics and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Vukovarska 58, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: Solar heating and cooling (SHC) systems are currently attracting attention, especially in times of increasing energy prices and supply crises. In times of lower energy prices, absorption SHC systems were not competitive to compression cooling supported by photovoltaic (PV) modules due to the high investment costs and total energy efficiency. This paper aims to discuss the current changes in energy supply and energy prices in terms of the feasibility of the application of a small absorption SHC system in a mild Mediterranean climate. The existing hospital complex restaurant SHC system with evacuated tube solar collectors and a small single-stage absorption chiller was used as a reference system for extended analysis. Dynamic simulation models based on solar thermal collectors, PV modules, absorption chillers and air-to-water heat pumps were developed for reliable research and system comparison. The results showed that primary energy consumption in SHC systems designed to cover base energy load strongly depends on the additional energy source, e.g., boiler or heat pump. Absorption SHC systems can be price competitive to air-to-water heat pump (AWHP) systems with PV collectors only in the case of reduced investment costs and increased electricity price. To reach acceptable economic viability of the absorption SHC system, investment price should be at least equal to or lower than a comparable AWHP system.

Keywords: solar heating and cooling; absorption chiller; heat pump; simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/3/1241/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/3/1241/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:3:p:1241-:d:1044985

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().