Analysis of the Potential of Solar‐Assisted Heat Pumps: Technical, Market, and Social Acceptance Aspects

Abstract

Solar‐assisted heat pumps have the potential to increase the share of renewables in the energy systems for several cases, or to increase the flexibility of smart grids and integrated thermal‐electric grids. The development of such systems requires a comprehensive approach in which technical, market, and social acceptance are all tackled at the same time. Such a holistic approach is the main objective of the present review article. To do so, an investigation is performed by categorizing the integration approaches reported in the literature, exploiting the solar source either as a low‐temperature evaporator source or as supporting the condenser during heating operation. Furthermore, hybrid integration schematics and dual‐source approaches are discussed. Market and social aspects complete the analysis, with the aim of finally identifying the current status; the main drivers and challenges are also addressed. The reported results confirm that the exploitation of solar thermal energy can increase the achievable performance of heat pumps in a broad range of climates. A favorable regulatory/financial framework and informative campaigns for businesspersons and the wide public have been identified as the main solutions to maximize the deployment of the technology in the coming years.