Fraunhofer ISE to assess PVT collectors, heat pumps on large-scale buildings 

Fraunhofer ISE researchers, alongside partners from institutes in Stuttgart and Hameln, will monitor the performance of up to nine PVT systems on apartment buildings, businesses, offices and industry buildings over several years as part of a project building the case for wider deployment of the technology.

Researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) are working on a project aiming to further the use of photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collectors and heat pumps in the building sector.

The integraTE-XL project is a collaboration between Fraunhofer ISE and its partners at the University of Stuttgart’s Institut für Gebäudeenergetik, Thermotechnik und Energiespeicherung and the Institut für Solarenergieforschung in Hameln.

The four-year project, which kicked off in December, aims to further improve the combination of PVT collectors and heat pumps in large apartment buildings and commercial properties. A statement on the project says these technologies are now “technically and economically attractive for thermal and electrical energy supply and should therefore be established” in existing large-scale buildings.

Up to nine PVT systems, deployed at apartment buildings, businesses, office buildings and other industry buildings will be examined over several years.

The research team will collect measurement data and compare it to analysis from prior planning and simulation work, culminating in an evaluation covering potential improvements in efficiency and grid serviceability. Measures for operational optimization will also be developed in collaboration with system operators.

A statement from Fraunhofer ISE says the findings from the commissioning and operation of the systems will be made available as a knowledge base for future installations. Meanwhile, technical and economic findings will go towards the design of political framework conditions, such as funding schemes.

Fraunhofer’s statement also estimates that by implementing PVT systems on 5% of all newly renovated apartment buildings, a total saving of around 560 million tons of CO2 can be achieved over the next 25 years.

PVT collectors combine solar modules with solar thermal collectors, allowing for the production of electricity and heat at the same time.

In October, an international group of scientists published research on eight different kinds of PVT systems to understand how design impacts module efficiency.