Heat Pumps

The Swedish furniture giant began offering air-to-water heat pumps distributed by Svea Solar and manufactured by Sweden-based Aira.

An Enervis study commissioned by Green Planet Energy sees great potential for reducing CO2 emissions and avoiding peak feed-in times in intelligent control, particularly in adapting to available PV power. Not only users of electric cars and heat pumps could benefit from this, but also all other electricity customers – thanks to lower electricity prices.

New research from Spain has sought to understand if dimethyl ether and ternary mixtures of carbon dioxide, dimethyl ether and butane could represent an alternative to propane in heat pump systems. Their analysis has shown dimethyl ether could be the best alternative to R290, as it offers the highest coefficient of performance values for both cooling and heating, and avoids issues related to temperature glide.

The Italian manufacturer said its new R32 heat pump has a coefficient of performance of up to 5.2 and a heating capacity of up to 16 kW. It is available in either single-phase or three-phase versions.

Researchers in the United Kingdom found that approximately 175 TWh of hydrogen and compressed air storage capacity will be needed to fully decarbonize heating in the United Kingdom. Lead researcher Bruno Cardenas told pv magazine that, when domestic heat demand is 100% electrified, average annual electricity demand and peak load in the grid are 26% and 70% higher than current levels.

Additional project management and design automation tools are available on the Swiss software company’s subscription-based platform made for small and medium-sized (SME) businesses that are targeting commercial and industrial (C&I) and residential the solar PV segments.

Scientists in India have built a solar-powered thermic solar geyser prototype based on a nichrome wire heating rod and a flexible pipe heat exchanger with aluminum fins. The system is designed to generate domestic how water and can reportedly achieve a levelized cost of energy of $0.051 per kWh.

The Japanese manufacturer said its new heat pump system features a coefficient of up to 5.42 and a seasonal energy efficiency ratio of up to 33.2

Scientists in Spain have simulated a system that uses both power-to-heat-to-power thermal batteries and lithium-ion batteries for energy storage. The hybrid system reportedly achieved a 7% lower LCOE compared to a PV system relying solely on lithium batteries, while simultaneously increasing PV self-consumption by up to 20%.

Heat pump manufacturers will need to meet ‘smart ready’ standards under new appliance regulations, including stricter rules on cybersecurity. Utilities will be obligated to ensure battery energy storage systems, heat pumps and electric vehicle smart charge points can work across different tariffs under tariff data framework.