Solar-assisted geothermal heat pump models for space heating and cooling

Abstract

The world today is in desperate need of clean energy, and among clean energy sources, geothermal energy possesses the highest potential. The maximum benefit can be obtained from clean energy sources if they are used together. This paper proposes the employment of a solar integrated geothermal heat pump. Furthermore, the paper provides a study on the comparison of six different types of solar integrated geothermal heat pumps based on various factors. (1) The heat produced by photovoltaic system combined with a boiler and a vapor compressor chiller. (2) The heating and cooling effect when photovoltaic system is integrated with a backup boiler. (3) Integrating the photovoltaic system with a reversible heat pump. (4) Use of solar energy in accordance with a backup boiler. (5) Integrating the previously combined solar energy and backup boiler to vapor compressor chiller. (6) Use of solar energy in combination with a reversible heat pump to produce heating and cooling effect. Each of these cases is compared to a process similar to itself that might have been previously used. The comparison between the processes points out the merits and demerits for both systems. The main reason for using this is to make use of fossil fuels reduce as it is harmful to the environment due to emission of gases like methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia and many harmful gases. While coal and oil produce a massive 1.08 tons of CO2 emission, use of geothermal energy could bring it down to about 0.05 tons which would be 21 times less then fossil fuels. To overcome this problem and for the benefit of environment, solar and geothermal both are integrated and provide better output.