Study on a Solar Heating System with Phase Change Energy Storage in Cold Region

Abstract

Although solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources at present, the access to solar energy is unstable and discontinuous, so more advanced energy storage is needed. This paper designs and studies a phase change material (PCM) solar heating system which integrates heat storage and heat removal. In order to evaluate the system performance under actual operation, an experimental system is built. According to the experimental measurement results of the heat charging process, the COP of the system is between 1 and 5.5, which is higher than that of the general household electric heating system (COP=1). According to the system heat release process, the average temperature of the room without heating system is about 6 ℃ higher than the room temperature, and the room with heating system is also about 6 ℃ higher than the room without heating system. When the outdoor temperature is 5-10 ℃, the minimum temperature of the heating chamber is about 16 ℃, indicating that the heating effect is good. Although the new phase-change material (PCM) solar heating system, which integrates heat storage and heat removal, shows relatively good heating effect, further research is needed on the mass flow rate control strategy of the solar energy collection cycle, the filling quality of the phase-change material and the matching of the heat exchanger structure.