Model development of a solar system combined with heat pump

This paper describes the setup and model of a solar panel combined with a heat pump system for domestic hot water and heating. The system has been built at the School of Civil and Building Engineering of Loughborough University. Solar collectors provide clean and renewable energy, while the heat pumps can provide energy efficient and environmentally friendly heat when necessary. This paper describes the layout of the experimental system, the model development based on first energy principles and initial simulation results. Local weather data is used to check the working of the model. The current controller controls the flow of hot water into the tanks based on current measurements only. The objective of future work is to apply model predictive control (MPC) to this system.