Abstract
The use of photovoltaic (PV) systems for powering heat pumps (HP) leads to an economic, energy efficient and environmentally friendly alternative for heating and cooling generation. A technical solution developed by the authors permits stand-alone configurations to operate without batteries, mitigating up to 75% of the solar power fluctuations resulting from cloud-passing. Once its technical feasibility has been demonstrated, the economic potential of this innovative solution should be assessed (avoiding a battery system is a significant advantage). This paper presents a comparative economic assessment of this autonomous (AU) solution and a self-consumption (SC) solution, that would substitute a grid-powered HP system for the space heating and cooling of two livestock farms located in Spain. Results show that PV-HP systems are economically feasible regardless of the technical solution: the Profitability Index (PI) is in the 2.23–2.97 €/€ range, the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is in the 8.1–10.9% range, the Payback Period (PBP) is in the 9.2–11 years range and the savings in terms of the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) are in the 57–70% range. The AU solution offers a higher economic profitability, because it permits larger savings in the electricity bill. The SC solution presents lower LCOEs because of its greater electricity production.
Highlights
In the light of the increasing importance of reducing the environmental impact of our energy system, heat pumps (HP) and photovoltaic (PV) systems have become a very popular tandem in recent research [1]
The Profitability Index (PI), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Payback Period (PBP) values evaluate the economic profitability of an investment, which is higher for the AU solutions mainly due to the bigger savings in the electricity bill
( eliminating the need for electric storage). This solution powers the compressor of the unit systems that permits up to 75% of the PV power fluctuations caused by passing clouds to be resisted directly with a PV generator through a programmable frequency converter, solar power
Summary
In the light of the increasing importance of reducing the environmental impact of our energy system, heat pumps (HP) and photovoltaic (PV) systems have become a very popular tandem in recent research [1]. Heat pumps are very efficient in terms of electric-to-thermal energy conversion and they typically use the ambient air, water or underground boreholes, which are considered to be renewable, as thermal sources. They are a leading technology for heating and cooling: the European market has increased by more than 10% annually since 2007 [2], and by 12.5% only in the period 2017–2018 [3]. As for grid-connected air-to-water systems, the literature reports performances from the simulations presented in the paper [10] to performances of several hours [11] or Energies 2020, 13, 4114; doi:10.3390/en13164114 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies
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