Experimental and simulation study of hybrid ground-­Source heat pump systems with unglazed solar collectors for French office buildings

This paper discusses the potential of a Solar Assisted Ground-­Source  Heat  Pump  (SAGSHP)  system  configuration  with  unglazed  solar  collectors  to supply space heating in French office buildings, with reduced capital cost.  Experimental  results  are  used    to  develop  validated  TRNSYS  component  models  for  the  unglazed  solar collectors and the heat pump. A complete TRNSYS model  (system  and  building)  is  then  developed  to  assess the potential of this SAGSHP configuration in a typical office building in France.  Results show that coupling unglazed solar collectors with ground heat exchangers is potentially interesting in terms of capital costs as well as in improvement of performance.