Development of Innovative Technologies for Solar-Assisted Heat Pump for Residential Heat Supply

Applying integrated renewable energy with storage to buildings is an important application for wider integration and deployment of renewable energy and to achieving our binding EU targets of at least a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 2030. This chapter discusses the newest development and innovative technologies used for improving the integrated renewable energy for residential buildings to reduce carbon emission. The integration of highly efficient heating and cooling systems is a key factor to enable a low-energy-consuming building. For domestic buildings, heat pumps (HP) are widely used to install renewable energy in order to meet the heating or cooling demand. However, there are some barriers for the HPs widely application: 1) the electricity power required by the HP operation will add burden to the electricity grid during the peak heat demanding and 2) frosting of HP evaporator during cold seasons. Therefore, the development of new sustainable and highly efficient solar-assisted heat pump (ASHP) systems for buildings is imperative to meet current and future heating demand throughout the United Kingdom. In addition, underfloor heating is an efficient and economical method for home heating, which can use the low-temperature heat supply from HPs. Integrating phase change materials (PCMs) as thermal mass into the underfloor heating structure can save operating cost and improve the thermal comfort with quick heating response. The effect of using phase change materials (PCMs) incorporated into building integration of photovoltaics for regulating the rise in PV temperature has been widely acknowledged. The cooling from HP’s evaporator can be used to improve the efficiency of PV, further increase the total efficiency of the ASHP. The effect of combining PVT and PCM underfloor heating with the SAHP applications have been explored.