Performance Analysis of a Hybrid Solar Energy, Heat Pump, and Desiccant Wheel Air-Conditioning System in Low Energy Consumption Building

Abstract

In hot and humid climate zone of China, a huge amount of building energy is consumed by conventional air-conditioners (CACs) in dehumidification especially in low energy consumption buildings where sensible load can be largely reduced by adopting high-performance building envelopes, but the moisture load is not changed. In this paper, a hybrid solar energy, heat pump, and desiccant wheel (HSHDW) system was proposed and the performance of the system was analyzed based on simulation studies. It was found that the evaporation temperature of the system should be kept at 12.8 and 9.7 °C on a typical day of summer and transition season separately. Compared with CACs, HSHDW system can provide a more comfortable thermal and humid indoor environment. The daily energy consumption of the HSHDW system is lower than that of the CAC, achieving great energy savings, especially for a typical weekday in summer, when a 16.8% daily energy saving is obtained.