Energy and economic optimization of solar-assisted heat pump systems with storage technologies for heating and cooling in residential buildings

The paper analyses different configurations of solar-assisted heat pump (SAHP) systems, in combination with the use of energy storage technologies. The aim is to investigate the factors which decrease the energy demand of the system, increasing the self-consumption of solar energy, and minimizing the installation cost. The analysis includes both heating and cooling use, considering three buildings with different energy performance levels. Several system configurations are proposed and simulated using the TRNSYS software. A standard air-source heat pump is defined as reference system, to assess the efficacy of the SAHP solutions. For a highly insulated building, the results show a maximum energy reduction (−30%) considering a photovoltaic (PV) panels and a battery storage. However, the installation of solar thermal (ST) panels (−24%) results financially more advantageous over a 20-year period. Considering a medium insulated building, the PV installation is the most profitable solution (−25%) considering both energy and economic aspects. The ST panel integration also results the most profitable solution for a low insulated building (−26%). The results are discussed and different factors affecting the system performance are identified for the studied cases.