Experimental analysis of a solar heating system with seasonal storage operated in first year

Abstract

Seasonal thermal energy storage technology has attracted widespread attention due to its ability to successfully solve the intermittent and seasonal fluctuations of solar energy, as well as the seasonal mismatch between solar energy and heating loads. Due to the significant differences in climatic conditions and heating characteristics between China and European countries, there are also significant differences in the operational characteristics of seasonal heat storage systems in China, with relatively few relevant cases. This paper presents experimental investigations on a solar heating system with seasonal thermal energy storage built in North China. The focuses of the investigation are performance assessment on the system during the first year and the dynamic operating characteristics of the main components. The experimental results showed that the charging efficiency of the seasonal thermal energy storage can reach about 72.0 % in heat storage season. The maximum daily average heat collection per aperture area of the concentrated solar thermal system can reach 2.5 kWh/m²/d in October with the highest solar radiation and running days. The solar fraction of the system reached 41.9 % in the first year. This experimental study serves as a reference for future research on solar heating system with STES, including system optimization design and control.