The potential contribution of solar thermal collection and storage systems to meeting the energy requirements of North European Housing

The focus of this work is on the proportion of the overall energy currently consumed for thermal comfort and hot water preparation that could be supplied by solar energy harvested by active, water-based, systems including heat storage in houses in Northern Europe. Twelve typical dwellings drawn from a recent survey and considered as representative of 50% of the Welsh housing stock are modelled and the solar collectors' yield for different orientations and tilts is predicted. A range of absorber orientations and storage capacities are analysed in relation to the resulting solar contribution. It is revealed that solar energy has a role to play in reducing the amount of conventional energy currently consumed for heating and domestic hot water preparation in existing dwellings in this region. Up to 34% solar contribution could be possible by instantaneous use of the absorbed energy, if the energy demand and availability are well matched. It is also shown that uncommonly large collector areas could significantly increase the solar usability in existing houses in this region, resulting in around 50% solar contribution with small store sizes. Large storage capacities would marginally increase the delivered solar heat, but only in some cases where unrealistically large collector areas are used. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.