Performance Analysis of Ground-coupled Heat Pump Integrated with Unglazed Solar Collector

Abstract

This paper presents the simulated performance of a ground-coupled heat pump (GCHP) integrated with unglazed solar collectors and separate heat and coolth storage boreholes for heating and cooling of residential buildings in Australia. A small-scale setup of the system was tested at the University of Melbourne. The system was modelled in TRNSYS and the model was validated with the measured data. The validated model was then used to predict the performance of the system in Alice Springs, Melbourne and Hobart for multi-building application. The system is designed to provide space heating and cooling for 30 identical detached houses. Results show that by recharging heat and coolth, borehole lengths can be reduced by up to 41% for multi-building applications compared to conventional GCHP. The life-cycle unit cost of heating multibuilding using the system is lower than that of air-source heat pump (ASHP) and ducted gas heating system for the three cities investigated. However, the life-cycle unit cost of cooling using the proposed system is higher than that of ASHP for multi-building applications.