Optimisation of design criteria for solar space heating systems through modelling and simulation

This paper is concerned with the optimisation of some design criteria for water based active solar space heating systems intended for residential applications in Cyprus. For this purpose, a system model based on the TRNSYS simulation programme has been used to correlate the performance and cost effectiveness of the system with a number of key design criteria. Two design criteria are investigated in the present study, namely the collector to floor area criterion (CAF), which relates the collector area to the building floor area, and the collector to load criterion (CAL) which relates the collector area to the building thermal load. The simulation results showed that the system is not viable when compared with a diesel oil alternative. The system is cost effective when compared with electricity. In that case the system solar fraction is maximised for CAF value of 0.3 m2 of solar collector per m2 of building floor area while the optimum CAL value is about 0.5 m2 of collector per annual GJ of building thermal load