Potential application of solar thermal systems for hot water production in Hong Kong

This paper presents the evaluation results of conventional solar water heater (SWH) systems and solar assisted heat pump (SAHP) systems for hot water production in Hong Kong. An economic comparison and global warming impact analysis are conducted among the two kinds of solar thermal systems and trad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Applied energy 2009-02, Vol.86 (2), p.175-180
Main Authors:	Li, Hong, Yang, Hongxing
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Applied sciences Conventional solar hot water systems Devices using thermal energy Energy Energy. Thermal use of fuels Equipments, installations and applications Exact sciences and technology Heat pumps Hot water supply Hot water supply Solar energy Solar assisted heat pump systems Conventional solar hot water systems Natural energy Solar assisted heat pump systems Solar energy Solar thermal conversion
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Summary:	This paper presents the evaluation results of conventional solar water heater (SWH) systems and solar assisted heat pump (SAHP) systems for hot water production in Hong Kong. An economic comparison and global warming impact analysis are conducted among the two kinds of solar thermal systems and traditional water heating systems (i.e. electric water heaters and towngas water heaters). The economic comparison results show that solar thermal systems have greater economic benefits than traditional water heating systems. In addition, conventional SWH systems are comparable with the SAHP systems when solar fractions are above 50%. Besides, analysis on the sensitivity of the total equivalent warming impact (TEWI) indicates that the towngas boosted SWH system has the greatest potential in greenhouse gas emission reduction with various solar collector areas and the electricity boosted SWH system has the comparative TEWI with the SAHP systems if its solar fraction is above 50%. As for SAHP systems, the solar assisted air source heat pump (SA-ASHP) system has the least global warming impact. Based on all investigation results, suggestions are given on the selection of solar thermal systems for applications in Hong Kong.
ISSN:	0306-2619 1872-9118