PV Domestic Hot Water System

摘要

In this paper, we investigate the technical and economical feasibility of a Photovoltaic Domestic Hot WaterrnSystem (PV DHWS) consisting in a direct coupling of the energy produced by PV panels and the heatingrnelements (electrical) of a hot water tank.rnFirst, a prototype of PV DHWS was built and experiments were carried out at our outdoor test facilities inrnorder to demonstrate the validity of the concept, evaluate the performances and identify ways ofrnimprovements. Then, a numerical model of PV DHWS was developed in Modelica / Dymola and validatedrnusing collected experimental data. System performances were simulated under various configurations andrncompared to the performances of solar thermal hot water systems. Finally, based on both experimental andrnnumerical results, a first economic assessment of PV DHWS was done. The results presented in this paper show that from a technical and economical point of view, PV DHWSrncould potentially be a cost effective alternative to conventional solar thermal systems.