Assessment of a solar assisted air source and a solar assisted water source heat pump system in a Canadian household

This paper presents an assessment of two solar assisted heat pump systems integrated into an air distribution system in three different 210 m(2) single detached residential houses in Montreal, Canada. The housing types considered are a 1980's house, an energy efficient house and a "net zero ready" house. The advanced heat pump systems considered in the analysis focused on coupling solar energy on the evaporator side of an air source and water source heat pumps to improve performance compared to a standard air source heat pump and provide an alternative to a costly ground source heat pump system. The annual energy consumption and utility cost of the solar assisted heat pump systems were compared to a market available air source heat pump, a ground source heat pump system as well as the typical reference housing heating and cooling system. The results predicted that a solar assisted air source heat pump has a comparable capital cost to a ground source heat pump system in all housing types and the highest energy savings for a "net zero ready" house of 34% compared to the base case. The solar assisted water source heat pump did not yield interesting results, as the solar assisted air source heat pump demonstrated improved energy savings and lower capital costs in all housing types considered. Comparing the 20 year life cycle costs of the solar assisted heat pump systems to the base case, only in the 1980's housing archetype did the solar assisted air source heat pump system demonstrate a lower life cycle cost than the base case. A standard air source heat pump yielded the lowest life cycle cost in the 1980's and energy efficient house considered and the reference base case system had the lowest life cycle cost in the net zero ready house considered. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.