Performance of the air source heat pump assisted solar heating system combined with PCM floor

In the last decade, the utilization of solar heating has been investigated due to its effect on decreasing energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This paper focuses on the performance of air source heat pump assisted solar heating system with phase change material (PCM) floor. The solar heating systems with PCM floor and conventional radiant floor, are simulated by TRNSYS considering each of the components (solar collector, air source heat pump, heat storage tank, circulating pump etc.). A residential building in Tianjin is selected as a simulation case to evaluate the energy consumption, heating capacity and economic effect. Compared with building without PCM floor, the energy consumption of solar heating system throughout the heating season decreases by 35.7 % and the annual CO2 emission reduction increases from 1535 kg to 2762 kg. The solar fraction of the system increases from 34.3 % to 60.2 %. The COP of solar heating system increases from 3.49 to 5.43 due to reduction of energy consumption. Furthermore, PCM floor contributes to economic benefit with 28.5 % operation cost saving.