Research project with Fraunhofer ISE: Realisation of a climate-friendly heat pump solution for refurbishment of existing buildings
goodmen energy aims to be a pioneer in the field of site- and use-optimised renewable energy systems. For this reason, the company repeatedly participates in research projects to drive innovations in this field.
The HP-PVT 4.0 research project is about developing a system consisting of a propane heat pump (HP), storage units and PVT collectors that enables significant energy and cost savings. Under the project management of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, goodmen energy GmbH is working together with the companies res regenerative energietechnik und -systeme and Ino Wärmepumpen made bei Bartl to develop an integrated heat pump solution for (single-family) homes that uses the heat from PVT collectors.
In the process, the research project has already come a big step closer to the goal of an efficient system: Fraunhofer ISE was able to achieve an efficiency record for a heat pump refrigeration circuit using propane. In the test, only 124 grams of propane were consumed for a heating capacity of 12.8 kilowatts.
The HP-PVT 4.0 research project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK).
Project details:
- Realisation of an efficient heat pump solution for the refurbishment of existing buildings with flow temperatures between 25 and 65°C, depending on the heating system, using climate-friendly A2L or A3 refrigerants (target value GWP<150). PVT collectors are used as the ambient heat source.
- Implementation of the heat pump with storage-integrated heat exchangers, which enable an efficiency increase of up to 35 % compared to conventional products.
- Efficient operation of PVT collectors in combination with a low-temperature storage tank as heat source.
- Use of compact, pressureless and thus cost-effective storage tanks.
- Development of a cross-component control concept that optimally coordinates the renewable energy supply (PVT heat and electricity), the building energy demand and the supply of energy from the electricity grid to operate the heat pumps, thus supporting sector coupling.
- Concept study for the implementation of a compact retrofit kit for existing building renovation.
- Study-based evaluation of the expansion of the concept to include the function of providing cooling in summer as a response to the rapidly increasing demand for cooling for air-conditioning purposes.
Other participants in the project:
https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/
https://res-energie.de/
https://www.ino-wp.de/