Potential use of photovoltaic-integrated solar heat pump system in Hong Kong

Most buildings in Hong Kong are served with electric/gas water heaters for hot water supply. With the elevated aspiration on the quality of life, an increase in hot water demand partly contributes to the escalating energy use of the city in the past decades. A photovoltaic-integrated solar heat pump (PV-SAHP) system, which can be seen as a scientific merge of the photovoltaic/thermal and solar assistant heat pump technology, is here proposed as a sustainable alternative. Numerical analysis has been carried out making use of a dynamic simulation model and the TMY weather data of Hong Kong. It was found that the proposed system with R-134a is able to achieve a yearly-average COP of 5.93 and PV output efficiency of 12.1%; the energy output is therefore considerably higher than the conventional heat pump plus PV “side-by-side” system. Within a year, the PV-SAHP system has better performance in summer time, when the monthly average COP could reach six or higher. Hence its application potential in Hong Kong is good.