This work by my colleague Mikel Lumbreras and myself has been published by Renewable Energy in October.
Following previous works on District Heating (DH) integrated Solar Thermal (ST) systems, in this paper, a deep meta-analysis is performed on the energy and economic performance of these systems, considering climate, share of renewables in the network and cost of heat. The outcome of solar systems (mostly focused on unglazed systems) is exploited at building level, and excess heat is delivered to the network at a variety of connection schemes and price scenarios.
Several DH configurations, interconnection schemes and installed ST capacity are studied in three different climates: Sevilla (Spain), Bordeaux (France) & Copenhagen (Denmark). Heat loads corresponding to buildings with various insulation levels and domestic hot water loads are assessed in hourly simulations. With the following main outcomes:
- Up to a 50% increase in the provision of solar heat is achieved when compared to isolated ST systems.
- Positive Return of Investment (ROI) is achieved in 22% of the studied cases.
- The DH network is found to be a suitable heat sink in up to 25% of the buildings with ST systems installed.
The full paper can be found in open access in the following URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.06.019