Investigation of the technical aspects of a solar assisted reversible heat pump system for space conditioning

Abstract

This study considers the potential of solar assisted heat pumps for a small island nation like Malta for energy savings and investigates the impact that such technology can have. For this purpose, testing was carried out to quantify the potential energy savings this renewable technology can introduce to the country, which could contribute to the country’s target of improving energy efficiency by 27% by 2020. This dissertation is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 provides a background, the scope of the research and the approach taken. Chapter 2 gives a literature review dealing with aspects concerning the subject matter and Chapter 3 outlines the theoretical elements. Chapter 4 provides a description of the instruments used and the experimental setup. This is followed by an analysis of the results obtained and a discussion in Chapter 5. Finally, Chapter 6 delivers the conclusions that were drawn from this research. Results indicate that the integration of a solar collector for space heating and cooling is not viable for small-scale use. The ambient temperature and solar radiation were identified as the main influential factors for inconsistency throughout the experiments. This dissertation also compared the potential energy savings of solar water heaters to a hypothetical 30% energy savings of solar assisted heat pumps on a nationwide level. It concludes that if Malta is to meet the 2020 targets, solar water heaters should be given priority since the potential savings are greater with this technology.