Economic comparison of reference solar thermal systems for households in five European countries

Louvet, Yoann; Fischer, Stephan; Furbo, Simon; Giovannetti, Federico; Helbig, Sonja; Köhl, Michael; Mugnier, Daniel; Philippen, Daniel; Veynandt, François; Vajen, Klaus

doi:10.1016/j.solener.2019.09.019

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Economic parameters are strongly influenced by factors such as government policies and incentives, type of industry, and project restrictions. All these factors can greatly influence the values of the economic metric evaluated in a certain study [159,161,163]. In hybrid configurations, all economic parameters could vary for each technology.…”

Section: Economic Performance Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid System of Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Technologies for Industrial Process Heat

et al. 2023

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Process heating is the activity with the most energy consumption in the industrial sector. Solar heating (SH) systems are a promising alternative to provide renewable thermal energy to industrial processes. However, factors such as high investment costs and area limitations in industrial facilities hinder their utilization; therefore, hybrid systems that combine two different solar thermal or photovoltaic technologies where each technology operates under conditions that allow a higher overall performance than conventional configurations have been proposed. In this review, we discuss the limitations of conventional SH systems and the potential of hybrid configurations to overcome them. First, the current literature about conventional and hybrid systems is presented. Then, the application of common performance indicators to evaluate hybrid configurations is analyzed. Finally, the limitation, advantages, and potential applications of conventional and hybrid systems are discussed. This work shows that conventional systems are the most promising alternatives in low and high-temperature industrial applications. At the same time, in medium and processes, hybrid configurations have great potential to increase the performance of SH systems and help to boost their adoption in the industrial sector. There are few studies about hybrid systems in industrial applications, and further research is required to determine their potential.

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Section: Economic Performance Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid System of Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Technologies for Industrial Process Heat

et al. 2023

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“…The study considered both economic and energy criteria and allowed determining the optimal collector area that minimized the purchase and installation costs. Louvet et al [28] used the levelized cost of energy to determine the heat cost per kWh of final energy produced by solar thermal systems in five European countries, considering different residential systems. It was concluded that it is of utmost importance to focus the research on solar assisted systems in order to reduce prices and increase the system's lifetime to cut off the economic gap when compared with the conventional heating systems.…”

Section: Brief Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Objective Optimization of Solar Thermal Systems Applied to Portuguese Dwellings

et al. 2020

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Solar thermal systems have been widely used to increase energy efficiency in the building sector, since the use of renewable energy sources became one of the top priorities to meet environmental targets. The main objective of this study is the thermo-economic optimization of solar thermal systems for residential building applications, considering a multi-objective approach. The simulations were performed through a MatLab code by implementing an elitist variant of Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NASGA-II). The solar collection area and the linear loss coefficient as well as the tank storage volume were defined as decision variables. A two-dimensional Pareto front was obtained, considering as objective functions the minimization of the annualized investment cost and the maximization of the solar collection efficiency. Based on the best trade-off between both objectives and considering that the solar thermal systems can operate for a period of at least 15 years, the Pareto analysis led to the conclusion that a system with an annualized investment cost between 270 and 280 €/year allows reaching a collection efficiency of 60%. After the analysis of the optimal solution points, a configuration was selected to estimate the system total purchasing cost: a panel with a solar area of 4.17 m2 and with a linear coefficient loss of 3.684 W/m2.K; a storage volume of 0.275 m3; and a pump flow rate of 0.1364 m3/h. For this configuration, we estimated a total purchasing cost of 2545.0 €, whereas the solar collector and the storage tank are the most expensive components, representing a share of 42% and 43%, respectively. These results represent a specific cost of 610.3 €/m2 per solar collection area.

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“…In recent work, different types of solar heating system were applied to five European countries: Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and France. It was shown that without subsidies most solar heating systems have a higher LCoH than the reference conventional heating systems without solar, except for some solar domestic hot-water systems (Louvet et al 2019). The reference systems without solar assistance are theoretical heating systems meeting the same useful heat demand as the solar-assisted heating systems.…”

Section: Economic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar thermal energy

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Wang³

et al. 2020

The SDC International Report 2020 : Cooperating for Energy Transition

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Economic comparison of reference solar thermal systems for households in five European countries

Cited by 12 publications

References 5 publications

Hybrid System of Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Technologies for Industrial Process Heat

Hybrid System of Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Technologies for Industrial Process Heat

Multi-Objective Optimization of Solar Thermal Systems Applied to Portuguese Dwellings

Solar thermal energy

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