Performance analysis of a solar-assisted combined cooling, heating and power system with an improved operation strategy

Performance and economics of a solar-assisted combined cooling, heating and power (SCCHP) system mainly depend on the system's structure, operation strategy and choice of facility capacity. The SCCHP analyzed in this paper, contains a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) that is the power generation unit, a heat recovery system, a photovoltaic (PV) system, solar evacuated tube collectors (ETC), an absorption chiller, an electric chiller and a heat storage tank. An improved operation strategy, termed as best operation condition point (BOCP) strategy, is proposed and applied in this SCCHP system. With the proposed operation strategy, the capacities of the main equipment are optimized based on a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. In addition, a case study of an apartment building in Guangzhou is conducted to verify the feasibility of the proposed SCCHP system structure and optimal operation strategy. Compared with these separating supply system, the optimized CCHP system has an excellent performance in energy saving. It can save 15141.63 KWh electric energy and increase heat output by 170183.57 MJ per year. Accordingly, the return on investment is 2.55 and the payback period is 11.2 years. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The performance and economics of a solar-assisted combined cooling, heating, and power system depend on the system's structure, operation strategy, and choice of facility capacity. An improved operation strategy called best operation condition point (BOCP) strategy was proposed and applied in this study. A case study of an apartment building in Guangzhou was conducted to verify the feasibility of the proposed system, showing significant energy-saving benefits.