Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Performance and CO2 emissions assessment of a novel combined solar

photovoltaic and thermal, with a Stirling engine micro-CHP system for
domestic environments
Juan Antonio Auñón-Hidalgo a, Mariano Sidrach-de-Cardona b, Fernando Auñón-Rodríguez b, *
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering and Fluid Mechanics, University of Málaga, Málaga 29071, Spain
b
Department of Applied Physics II, University of Málaga, Málaga 29071, Spain

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This paper presents a novel installation where a set of photovoltaic modules and solar thermal collectors work in
Stirling engine conjunction with a micro-CHP Stirling Engine to provide a reliable and self-sufficient energy system. A literature
Micro-CHP review showed that, while there are implementations of micro-CHP systems in household environments, there
CO2 emissions reduction
are no installations where the micro-CHP unit worked in conjunction with solar systems, photovoltaic and
Solar energy
Experimental testing
thermal. With the usage of Li-ion battery storage and a hot water tank for heat storage, as well as the micro-CHP
unit, the system increases its reliability and independence from climatic conditions. The results obtained show
that this system can supply 75.6% of the total energetic demand of a typical household, while achieving a
reduction of 36.2% in the CO2 emitted to produce all the consumed energy in the system. The complete thermal
demand has been met, while the usage from the electric grid has been required to meet 33.5% of the electric
demand. However, with an increase in battery capacity to 20 kWh (doubling the actual capacity), the system is
expected to become fully autonomous, as 31.8% of the electricity generated in the modules was exported to the
grid due to saturation in storage capacity. In the thermal energy balance, sufficient heat was generated to provide
enough energy for space heating or cooling, as well as domestic hot water.

total EU emissions in 2015. The residential sector accounted for 26.1%

of the final energy consumption in the EU for 2018. Natural Gas and
1. Introduction
electricity are the main energy sources for European households, ac­
counting for 32.1% and 24.7% of the final energy consumption,
The reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is crucial to the
respectively, whereas renewables and waste energy account for 19.5%
transition to a more sustainable energy system and, therefore combat
of the total energy consumption [3].
climate change and its impact on the environment. Energy processes
The renewable energy source for domestic use in developed coun­
represent, by far, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from
tries has traditionally been solar energy, where the meteorological
human activities. About two thirds of the global greenhouse gas emis­
conditions permitted its use. Both solar heat collectors and photovoltaic
sions are linked to burning fossil fuels for energy to be supplied for
panel installations have significantly increased their presence in the
electricity, heating, industry, and transport.
domestic environment for the past decade. Among solar heat collectors,
In this context, one of the six priorities for the European Commission
different implementations are used regarding the heat transfer fluid.
for 2019–2024 is for Europe to be the first climate-neutral continent,
Typically, a mix of water and glycol is used as the transfer fluid, where
through “The European Green Deal” [1]. The European Directive 2018/
sensible heat is transferred. Other implementations use two-phase re­
2001 encourages Member States to take measures to achieve substantial
frigerants, based in latent heat transfer [4]. However, being these
increases in renewable self-consumption, local energy storage and en­
technologies based on the solar radiation incident on the panels during
ergy efficiency, with a special mention to cogeneration [2].
daylight, they rely on energy storage to supply for the needs during the
According to the European Environment Agency, energy usage is the
night hours, and the independence of the system is dependent on
largest source of greenhouse gases, being responsible for 78% of the

* Corresponding author at: School of Industrial Engineering, University of Málaga; Doctor Ortiz Ramos, 29071, Málaga, Spain.
E-mail addresses: aunon@uma.es (J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo), msidrach@ctima.uma.es (M. Sidrach-de-Cardona), fernandoaunon@uma.es, fernandoar97@gmail.com
(F. Auñón-Rodríguez).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113793
Received 10 November 2020; Accepted 23 December 2020
Available online 8 January 2021
0196-8904/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al.
Nomenclature
CO2,el The real CO2 emissions associated to the electrical
consumption, in kg CO2.
CO2,th The real CO2 emissions associated to the thermal
consumption, in kg CO2.
CO2,theor,el The theoretical CO2 emissions associated to the electrical
consumption, in kg CO2.
CO2,theor,th The theoretical CO2 emissions associated to the thermal
consumption, in kg CO2.
CO2,grid The CO2 emissions factor for the electrical grid, in kg CO2/
kWh.
CO2,NG The CO2 emissions factor for the natural gas, in kg CO2/
kWh.
CO2,source The CO2 emissions factor for the selected heat source, in kg
CO2/kWh.
EPV The energy generated in the photovoltaic modules, in kWh.
EPV,ideal The ideal photovoltaic electricity generation without
losses, in kWh.
Esolar The received solar irradiance, in kWh.
Estirling The electricity generated in the Stirling Engine, in kWh.
Eload The total electrical demand, in kWh.
EPV,load The electricity from the photovoltaic to the electrical loads,
in kWh.
EPV,battery The electricity from the photovoltaic to the battery, in
kWh.
EPV,load The electricity from the photovoltaic to the electrical loads,
in kWh.
Egrid,load The electricity imported from the grid to meet the demand,
in kWh.
Estirling,load The electricity generated in the Stirling Engine to meet the
demand, in kWh.
Estirling,battery The electricity generated in the Stirling Engine and
favourable weather conditions. Thus, domestic solar installations could
require an additional power supply for the night and for low-irradiance
days. There are other renewable energy technologies available for space
heating and cooling in domestic environments, such as ground source
heat pumps [5], which can provide higher COP than conventional air
based heat pumps. In addition, these thermal system can be coupled
with solar heat collectors and biomass reactors to achieve a complete
renewable heat supply, with the possibility of storing heat in the ground
for later extraction [6].
In large scale applications, cogeneration (CHP) systems have been
proven to be useful to improve the efficiency in power generation, and a
reduction in GHG emissions [7]. Due to the recent interest in cogene­
ration by policy makers, different technologies for the implementation
of micro-CHP systems, that allow for a local power generation (heat and
electricity) reducing transport losses and increasing the efficiency,
ranging from the usage of natural gas and biofuels to PV/T systems [8],
have been studied. From the different technologies used in cogeneration,
the most suitable ones for residential applications are reciprocating
combustion systems, fuel cells and Stirling engines. Among these, Stir­
ling engines show low wear and long maintenance intervals, compared
to the other technologies [9], as well as their quiet operation. The usage
of CHP technologies can improve the operation of renewable power
systems, adding flexibility and reducing the generation uncertainty
[10].
The usage of Stirling engines for micro-cogeneration in the domestic
environment is gaining interest, as the literature shows. Conroy et al.
[11] analysed the performance of a micro-CHP WhisperGen Mk IV
Stirling engine in a domestic environment in Ireland, obtaining a
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Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793
stored in the battery, in kWh.
GHG Greenhouse Gas.
GPE The global photovoltaic efficiency, in %.
MPPT Maximum Power Point Tracking.
Ppeak The installed photovoltaic peak power, in kWp.
PR The performance ratio, in %.
Qdissipated The heat dissipated in the system, in kWh.
Qload The heat consumed to meet the thermal demand, in kWh.
Qsolar The heat generated in the solar heat collectors, in kWh.
Qdemand The thermal demand in the system, kWh.
Qstirling The heat generated in the Stirling engine, in kWh.
Qtotal The total heat generation, in kWh.
QNG The energy produced by the combustion of natural gas, in
kWh.
Qstirling,load The heat generated in the Stirling Engine and used to meet
the demand, in kWh.
Qstirling,storage The heat generated in the Stirling Engine and stored in
the hot water tank, in kWh.
SCd The direct photovoltaic self-consumption, in %.
SCg The global photovoltaic self-consumption, in %.
SS The photovoltaic self-sufficiency, in %.
SP The solar thermal production ratio, in %.
STP The Stirling Engine heat production ratio, in %.
TSC The theoretical solar thermal coverage, in %.
UHR The useful heat ratio, in %.
Yield The photovoltaic system efficiency or yield, in kWh/kWp.
Yref The reference yield.
ηSTC The photovoltaic panels efficiency under STC conditions.
ηboiler The seasonal efficiency for the selected boiler, in %.
ηstirling The Stirling Engine global efficiency, in %.
ηstirling,el The Stirling Engine electrical efficiency, in %.
ηstirling,th The Stirling Engine thermal efficiency, in %.
substantial reduction in CO2 emissions and annual savings. Valenti et al.
[12] study the effect of on–off cycling of a micro-CHP Stirling engine, a
common situation in the domestic environment, due to variations on the
demand profiles. The testing resulted in a reduction of the unit’s effi­
ciency due to the startup-shutdown cycles of the unit, which could be
partially mitigated with longer duty cycles and energy storage.
González-Pino et al. [13] developed an experimentally validated model
for the simulation of Stirling Engine micro-CHP in domestic
installations.
Damirchi et al. [14] study the power output of a gamma Stirling
engine in a micro-CHP configuration using different biomass fuels.
Grosu et al. [15] analysed the optimal geometry for a micro-CHP Stirling
engine in a domestic environment, proposing an optimization based on a
higher rotational speed to obtain maximum output power. Ferreira et al.
[16] optimized a solar-powered Stirling engine in the micro-
cogeneration scale, accounting for the maximum energy yield and
financial profit.
Recently, research has gone beyond CHP to CCHP (Combined Cool­
ing, Heat and Power) to accommodate the whole thermal demand
(cooling and heating) with a single system [17]. Abbasi et al. [18]
applied a methodological approach to determine the optimal size and
type of engine for a CCHP system in large-scale applications, where gas
turbines and internal combustion engines were more suitable than
Stirling engines, despite the higher environmental and performance of
the Stirling units.
For residential applications, this technology can substantially
improve the current implementations of cogeneration, as during roughly
half of the year, the thermal heat demand is low —only domestic hot
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al.
water is needed, but not heat for space heating— with a need for thermal
cooling —for space cooling. With CCHP, the heat generated in micro-
CHP units can be used for space cooling with the use of an absorption
chiller.
Zhang et al. [19] evaluate four different implementations of CCHP,
obtaining both economic and GHG emissions improvements for each
implementation. Ebrahimi et al. [20] designed a micro-CCHP system
utilizing a polymer exchange membrane fuel cell and a thermoelectric
cooler, achieving its cooling power from the electric battery storage.
The literature review shows that, although there are analysis on the
application of Stirling engine technologies and micro-CHP in domestic
applications, there are no publications where an experimental system
that combines solar energy (through photovoltaic arrays and solar
thermal collectors) and micro-CHP with the usage of a Stirling engine is
studied. Balcombe et al. [21] simulated the addition of an Stirling engine
CHP unit to a solar PV with battery storage system, obtaining an increase
in self-sufficiency, and financial viability for electricity demands higher
than 4300 kWh/year. An environmental analysis of the same installation
was evaluated [22], obtaining improvements in all environmental im­
pacts (global warming, depletion of ozone layer, acidification, etc.).
In this paper, a novel combined installation is described, where there
are both solar energy collectors (PV and thermal) and a cogeneration
unit: an EHE WhisperGen Stirling engine, with 1 kWe and 7 kWt energy
generation. With this installation, the behaviour of a combined system
where the solar arrays are the primary energy source of the household,
whereas the cogeneration unit acts as backup, has been evaluated. The
installation is in the Cogeneration Laboratory in the University of
Málaga, where the Mediterranean Climate weather conditions are pre­
dominant. This paper presents the first experimental results from the
system, as well as the proper operation of each element is studied. The
main objective of the installation is to optimize the heat and electricity
production and storage of the system in order to cover the complete
energy demand of a typical household with independence from the
electrical grid and the meteorological conditions.
The integration of different energy sources for both heat and elec­
tricity allows for an effective introduction of the technology in the res­
idential environment, showing promising perspectives for off-grid
installations [8]. This installation proposes the following main contri­
butions to the current literature:
• The system combines the joint operation of three energy systems:
solar photovoltaic, solar thermal and micro-cogeneration.
Fig. 1. Images of the proposed system, with solar panels on the rooftop and the micro-CHP, storage and control systems inside the laboratory.
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Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793
• The installation is grid connected, and the import and export of
electricity is integrated in the system.
• The proposed system allows to supply the total energy demand in a
household: electrical and thermal.
To evaluate the system performance, energy balances are analysed in
both the thermal and electrical subsystems; various efficiency parame­
ters are described to determine the system. Finally, the CO2 emissions
generated in the system are evaluated. These are compared to the
emissions generated in a system that employs only the electrical grid and
a traditional boiler as its energy sources to assess the reduction in CO2
emissions achieved by this installation.
2. System description and characteristics
2.1. System components
The proposed installation is able to generate both electric and ther­
mal energy from three different sources: a photovoltaic system, solar
thermal collectors and a micro-CHP Stirling engine. Coupled to their
respective energy sources, there are electrical and thermal loads to
reproduce domestic demand profiles in the installation, as well as stor­
age of both electrical and thermal energy. Fig. 1 shows images of the
installation, with the solar panels (photovoltaic and thermal) on the
building rooftop, and the remaining equipment inside the laboratory.
The system can be divided in two subsystems: an electrical and a
thermal subsystem, coupled by the micro-CHP WhisperGen Stirling unit,
which generates both heat and electricity. The whole installation is
controlled through a programmable PLC that allows for remote opera­
tion and management. Fig. 2 shows a diagram of the whole system,
where the arrows represent the energy flows in the system (the arrow
direction follows the direction of the energy flow).
The electric subsystem is composed by the photovoltaic array, a
single-phase inverter, a Li-ion battery and the different loads to use in
the installation. Table 1 shows the main components of the electrical
subsystem. The different loads are composed by domestic appliances,
such as lamps, space heaters, fans, etc. that allow to combine their in­
dividual loads to produce any desired load profile. The system is con­
nected to the grid supply, to export any excess energy and to act as a
backup supply of electricity.
The thermal subsystem contains the equivalent elements as in the
electrical one: production, storage and consumption, with water as the
working fluid. The heat is generated from two flat plate solar collectors,
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al. Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793

Fig. 2. Diagram of the system components, showing the energy flow between them.

Table 1 Table 2
Components of the electrical subsystem. Thermal subsystem component characteristics.
Electrical subsystem Thermal subsystem

Photovoltaic array Solar thermal collectors

Module Model Polycrystalline Atersa A-245P Collector Model Flat plate Chromagen PA-H
Module Nominal power 245 W Fluid capacity 1.2 L
Short Circuit current (Isc) 8.82 A Aperture area 1.87 m2
Open circuit voltage (Voc) 37.38 V Absorber area 1.77 m2
Number of panels 13 Total area 2.1 m2
Single phase inverter Number of collectors 2
Model INGECON SUN STORAGE 1Play 3TL Thermal storage
Rated power 3 KVA Model SUICALSA ASF2V-300
MPPT 1 Capacity 300 L
Maximum efficiency 95.5% Power transfer 53 kW
Battery storage Thermal loads
Model Li-ion LG CHEM RESU 10 Model Daikin DB_FWE06CT
Nominal energy 9.8 kWh Type Fan coil
Nominal capacity 189 Ah Heating capacity 3.4 kW/5.63 kW/6.65 kW/7.66 kW
Number of units 2

and the cogeneration unit. Consumption is achieved through two fan

coils that can be regulated to follow a thermal load profile. To accom­
Table 3
modate for differences in the generation and consumption of thermal
Stirling engine micro-CHP unit specifications.
energy, a hot water tank is installed, with a capacity of 300 L. Table 2
Stirling micro-CHP unit
shows the main characteristics of the elements in the thermal subsystem.
The Stirling engine micro-CHP unit can produce both heat and Model EHE WhisperGen Personal Power Station EU1
electricity, and therefore it is part of both the heat and electricity sub­ Electrical power 1 kW
Minimum thermal output 5.5 kW
systems. This cogeneration unit has an electrical power of 1 kW, whereas Nominal thermal output Up to 7 kW
in the thermal output it ranges from 5 kW with the main burner and up Fuel type Natural gas
to 7 kW of thermal output when the auxiliary burner is used to meet the Maximum fuel consumption 1.55 m3/h
demand requirements. Table 3 shows the main specifications of the
cogeneration unit.
ensure a secure operation and monitoring the meteorological informa­
The whole installation is controlled via a programmable PLC from
tion collected from a weather station, which include irradiance sensors.
Mitsubishi. The controller follows the flux diagram to activate the
Table 4 shows the measuring equipment used to monitor the installa­
different loads in the system according to the demand profile, as well as
tion, as well as their sensitivity values.
the control of the pumps and valves in the thermal subsystem. It is also
With the automation provided by the PLC, the system can be oper­
responsible for the activation of the micro-CHP demand switch, con­
ated through a remote connection or via a touch screen in the
trolling the installation status (fluid pressure, natural gas supply, etc.) to

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J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al. Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793

Table 4 Due to the fan coils minimum demand limitation the hot water de­
Measuring instruments installed in the system with their respective sensitivity mand (thermal energy) profile (Fig. 3) has been adapted from the
values. Spanish institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE),
Measurement Instrument Units Sensitivity with a total hot water demand of 7 kWh [24], concentrated in two peak
Water temperature PT100 Temperature probe ◦
C ±1.5 ◦ C
demand hours.
Water flow rate TITAN FT2 Turbine Flow L/min ±0.75%
Meter 3.2. System’s control strategy
Natural gas pressure SMX2 pressure sensor mbar ±1%
Water pressure TRAFAG NAT8252 bar
The main objective of the system is to achieve a complete indepen­
±0.5%
pressure sensor
Solar radiation (Solar heat EKO MS-40 W/m 2 ±0.2% dence from the electrical grid (while also supplying for the thermal
collectors) needs of the installation), while minimizing the usage of fossil fuels, in
Solar radiation (Photovoltaic Atersa compensated W/m2 ±2% this case the natural gas supply used by the micro-CHP Stirling engine
panels) calibrated cell unit. Therefore, the implemented flow diagram aims to guarantee the
Electrical power Ingeteam Inverter W ±1W
supply using both solar sources and activate the cogeneration system to
Ambient temperature LUFFT WS500 C
◦
±0.2 ◦ C
Ambient relative humidity LUFFT WS500 % ±2%
supply for the demand not met by the solar installation.
The electrical subsystem is managed by the single-phase inverter,
which manages the photovoltaic array Maximum Power Point Tracking
laboratory, and all the system parameters and control variables are (MPPT), battery charge/discharge and grid connection. The system runs
logged for their analysis. Being the micro-CHP a commercial unit, the on its “self-consumption” mode, where it only interacts with the grid to
monitoring and logging of all the variables involved in its operation are export excess electricity when all the demand is met and the battery
recorded through special software provided by the unit’s manufacturer. storage is completely charged, and it only imports electricity from the
grid when the demand is not met and the battery charge is below 30%.
3. Methodology When the battery SOC reaches 30%, the micro-CHP demand is activated.
On the other hand, the thermal subsystem is managed by the PLC,
The system runs continuously, following typical electrical and ther­ based on the storage tank water temperature, the solar thermal collector
mal demand profiles in households. The installation is able to apply real water temperature and the demand profile. The solar thermal circuit is
thermal and electrical loads according to set demand profiles. Data of run when the collector temperature is higher than the stored water
the main operating parameters of the system is collected on tests that run temperature, thus avoiding thermal losses with the environment. The
without errors for 24 h (whole days). The monitored variables include fan coils are activated when there is heat demand and the storage
meteorological conditions (radiation, temperature, humidity, etc.), temperature is higher than the comfort limit temperature, that is 30 ⁰C,
electrical production and consumption, water temperatures and flow or the stored water reaches the maximum working temperature of the
rate in all the water circuits and the Stirling engine system variables. To cogeneration unit, being that excess heat dissipated. Fig. 4 shows the
evaluate the system, the main results from each day are further ana­ control strategy followed by the PLC system controller
lysed, according to the methodology described below.
3.3. Data analysis
3.1. Thermal and electrical load profiles
Although having all the variables involved in the installation oper­
The energy demand profiles used in the testing follow domestic ation is extremely useful for diagnosis and problem solving, the analysis
electrical and domestic hot water curves. The electrical demand curve of all the system’s operation through extended periods of time can
(Fig. 3) follows the demand profile corresponding to a summer weekday, become cumbersome. For this reason, an ad hoc software application has
according to the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERK) datasets [23], been developed using the computing power provided by MATLAB® to
with a daily total demand of 17.8 kWh. The profile has peaks in the be able to both analyse and visualize the most relevant information
morning and evening times, corresponding to the hours where the during the tests.
household is occupied and with a higher consumption. The usage of this software allows for an easy analysis of the system,

Fig. 3. Electrical and thermal demand curves used in the tests.

5
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al.
Fig. 4. Simplified control diagram of the system.
being that the user is only required to select the raw files extracted from
the PLC and the micro-CHP logging software. From that point on, the
software process the information contained in the files, importing it as
MATLAB® workspace variables and then obtaining the relevant infor­
mation, such as power and energy flows to and from each element in the
system, meteorological information during the tests, CO2 emissions
analysis, etc. After the analysis is run, the software displays all the re­
sults in numerical data, tables and plots, to be able to study the evolution
of the system in the most convenient and intuitive way.
Fig. 5 shows one of the results tabs that the software shows, in this
case regarding the power and energy balances in the electrical subsys­
tem. In this tab, the software displays the total energy balances for each
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Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793
element in the system during the whole test (top left), distinguishing
between the energy generation and consumption for each element. The
instantaneous power consumed or generated in each element of the
system (top right); an hourly energy balance for each component (bot­
tom right), and a percentage analysis of where the energy that has
entered the system is coming from, and where its destination was for the
total duration of the test (bottom left).
For further analysis, the software allows the user to store all the
information—both the raw data and the analysed results— in a single
MATLAB® file. This file can be used to conduct further analysis on the
test data, as well as exporting the information to other platforms for the
analysis or representation of results.
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al. Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793

Fig. 5. Screenshot of the analysis and visualization software. The image shows the electrical balance in the system during a 24-hour test.

3.3.1. Electrical parameters Esolar , is the received solar energy (Irradiance).

In addition to the energy balance analysis conducted on the ηSTC , is the system’s efficiency at STC conditions.
measured data –where is the energy in the system coming from and The performance ratio and yield are related by the following
where it is going to–, different parameters are employed to evaluate the expression:
system. For the electrical analysis, the following efficiency parameters
Yield Yield
are defined: PR[%] = ⋅100 = Esolar ⋅100
Yref 1000

• System efficiency or Yield: defined, for a set time period, as the ratio Where,
between the energy produced by the system and the peak installed Yref , is the reference Yield, the ratio between the received solar
power, expressed in kWh/kWp [25]. irradiance and the irradiance at STC conditions (1000 W/m2).
[
kWh
]
EPV In addition to these efficiency definitions, to evaluate this type of
Yield
kWp
=
Ppeak photovoltaic installations, these parameters are particularly useful [27]:

Where, • Direct PV Self-consumption (SCd): Photovoltaic direct self-

EPV , is the energy produced by the PV system. consumption percentage is defined as the ratio between the energy
Ppeak , is the peak installed power in the PV system. consumed directly from photovoltaic (EPV,LOAD ) and the total energy
produced by the PV system (EPV,LOAD ).
• Performance Ratio (PR): The Performance Ratio is other parameter
EPV,load
to determine the system’s quality. This ratio evaluates the overall SCd [%] = ⋅100
EPV
losses –expressed in %– in the photovoltaic system compared to an
ideal system operation, where the installation is supposed to work at Global PV Self-consumption (SCg): Global photovoltaic self-
STC conditions [26]. consumption percentage is as the ratio between the energy consumed
directly from photovoltaic (EPV,LOAD ) and the energy produced by the PV
EPV
PR[%] = ⋅100 array used to charge the battery.
EPV,ideal
EPV,battery + EPV,load
with SCg [%] = ⋅100
EPV
EPV,ideal = Esolar ⋅ηSTC
Where
Where, EPV,battery , is the energy produced by the PV array used to charge the
EPV,ideal , is the ideal energy generated in the system without losses. battery.

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J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al. Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793

EPV,load , is the energy produced by the PV array directly used to meet

Qstirling
the system load. STP[%] = ⋅100
Qtotal
EPV , is the total energy produced by the PV system.
Where,
• PV Self-sufficiency: the energy ratio between the PV solar generation Qstirling , is the thermal energy generated in the Stirling engine.
directly used in the building and the total building energy con­ Qtotal , is the total thermal consumption of the system, including the
sumption, in %, which represents the percentage of electric con­ heat load and the dissipated heat.
sumption which is covered by the photovoltaic system.
3.3.3. Stirling engine parameters
EPV,battery + EPV,load
SS[%] = ⋅100 The performance of the Stirling engine is evaluated through its ef­
Eload
ficiency values. The efficiency of the unit is obtained globally and the
Where, generator’s efficiency in the thermal and electrical production:
Eload , is the total electrical energy consumed in the installation.
Finally, a new efficiency parameter is defined to evaluate the oper­ • Stirling global efficiency: defined as the ratio between the total en­
ation of the electrical subsystem: ergy produced by the Stirling engine and the energy of the burnt
natural gas to generate it.
• Global Photovoltaic Efficiency: the product of the global PV self-
EStirling + Qstirling
consumption and PV self-sufficiency. ηstirling [%] = ⋅100
QNG
GPE[%] = SCg ⋅SS
Where,
Estirling , is the electrical energy generated in the Stirling unit.
3.3.2. Thermal parameters
Qstirling , is the thermal energy generated in the Stirling unit.
The thermal analysis of the installation is similar to the conducted for
QNG , is the energy produced by the combustion of the natural gas.
the electrical part of the system. Firstly, an energetic analysis is evalu­
ated, where the energy generated both in the solar heat collectors and
• Stirling electrical efficiency: defined as the ratio between the elec­
the Stirling Engine Unit, and the energy consumed in the installation to
tricity produced by the Stirling engine and the energy of the burnt
meet the demand profile and the excess heat in the system studied.
natural gas to generate it.
In addition to the energy balances, the following ratios are defined:
Estirling
ηstirling,el [%] = ⋅100
• Useful heat ratio: defined as the percentage of thermal energy in the QNG
system that has been used to meet the thermal demand in relation to
Where,
the total thermal energy consumed in the system (either dissipated or
Estirling , is the electrical energy generated in the Stirling unit.
being used to meet the thermal demand). The remaining heat has
QNG , is the energy produced by the combustion of the natural gas.
been dissipated due to the thermal storage being at its maximum
operating temperature.
• Stirling thermal efficiency: defined as the ratio between the heat
Qload produced by the Stirling engine and the energy of the burnt natural
UHR[%] = ⋅100
Qload + Qdissipated gas to generate it.
Where, Qstirling
ηstirling,th [%] = ⋅100
Qdissipated , is the thermal energy dissipated in the system. QNG
Qload , is the thermal energy consumed to meet thermal demand.
Where,
Qstirling , is the thermal energy generated in the Stirling unit.
• Theoretical solar thermal coverage: defined as the ratio between the
QNG , is the energy produced by the combustion of the natural gas.
solar thermal generation and the thermal demand. It expresses the
amount of the daily demand that could have been supplied by the
3.3.4. CO2 emissions analysis
solar heat collectors.
To evaluate the improvement of the system against a conventional
QSolar one from an environmental point of view, an analysis of the CO2 emis­
TSC[%] = ⋅100
Qdemand sions generated in the installation has been conducted. Firstly, the CO2
emissions generated during the testing have been determined, being
Where,
divided in the CO2 emissions associated to the consumption of electrical
Qsolar , is the thermal energy generated in the solar heat collectors.
energy and thermal energy:
Qdemand , is the theoretical thermal demand of the system.

• Electrical CO2 emissions: computed as the CO2 emissions of the

• Real solar thermal production ratio: defined as the ratio between the
electricity used to meet the electrical loads in the system, they are
solar thermal generation and the total thermal consumption. ( )
obtained from the electricity used from the grid Egrid,load with the
SP[%] =
Qsolar
⋅100 CO2 emissions from the electrical mix and the electricity used from
( )
Qtotal the Stirling Engine Unit through its efficiency ηstirling and the
( )
Where, emissions from the combustion of its fuel, natural gas CO2,NG .
Qsolar , is the thermal energy generated in the solar heat collectors.
Estirling,LOAD + Estirling,battery
Qtotal , is the total thermal consumption of the system, including the CO2,el = Egrid,LOAD ⋅CO2,grid + ⋅CO2,NG
ηstirling
heat load and the dissipated heat.
Where,
• Real Stirling production ratio: defined as the ratio between the Egrid,load , is the energy imported from the electrical grid to meet the
Stirling engine thermal generation and the total thermal loads.
consumption. Estirling,load , is the electrical energy from the Stirling used to directly

8
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al. Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793

meet the loads. Table 5

Estirling,battery , is the electrical energy from the Stirling used to charge Emissions factors associated to each studied energy .
the batteries. Energy source CO2 emissions (kg CO2/kWh)
CO2,grid , are the specific emissions associated to the electric mix, in kg
Natural Gas 0.203
CO2/kWh. Electric grid 0.246
CO2,NG , are the specific emissions associated to the combustion of Diesel oil 0.267
natural gas, in kg CO2/kWh. Source [28,29]
ηstirling is the global efficiency of the Stirling Engine unit.
weather conditions in the end of the winter term and in spring, which
• Thermal CO2 emissions: similar to the electrical CO2 emissions, the include sunny days, different levels of overcast days and rainy days. For
thermal emissions are obtained from the emissions generated by the this reason, this represents a significant period to evaluate the installa­
combustion of natural gas in the Stirling unit to generate the thermal tion across a range of conditions.
energy used to heat the storage tank and meet the demand load. Table 6 shows the daily average, maximum and minimum values of
Qstirling,load + Qstirling,storage the main operating parameters of the system, as well as the values for the
CO2,th = ⋅CO2,NG standard deviation.
ηstirling
The climatic parameters show good conditions of irradiance and
Where, ambient temperature during the test with a daily mean value of solar irra­
Qstirling,load , is the thermal energy from the Stirling used to directly diance of 4.9 kWh/m2. During the analyzed period, the photovoltaic system
meet the loads. has shown a reliable behavior, always following the maximum power point
Qstirling,storage , is the thermal energy from the Stirling used to heat the of the array and with no failures or malfunctions, reaching daily irradiance
hot water storage. average values of 4.9 kWh/m2, with an average PR of 89.5% and with
CO2,NG , are the specific emissions associated to the combustion of maximum PR values of 93.9% mainly caused by a daily average cell tem­
natural gas, in kg CO2/kWh. perature of 16.4 ⁰C, better than STC conditions. Under these conditions,
ηstirling is the global efficiency of the Stirling Engine unit. 68.2% of the PV energy generated has been used by the system, reaching a
Once the real emissions associated to the energy consumed in the coverage of electricity demand by photovoltaic of 45.7%.
installation have been obtained, they are compared to the emissions that
would have been generated in a system where the electrical energy was 4.1. Electrical evaluation
entirely supplied by the grid and the thermal energy was obtained from a
traditional heater run by natural gas, electricity or diesel oil. The daily average of the photovoltaic production balance is reflected
The theoretical emissions in the system are obtained from the ther­ in Fig. 6 and indicates that 31.8% of the energy produced by the
mal and electrical energy consumed in the system: photovoltaic system could not be used by the system, neither directly by
the loads nor stored in the batteries and consequently it has been
• Theoretical electrical CO2 emissions: obtained considering that all
the electric demand has been met with energy from the grid. Table 6
CO2,theor,el = Eload ⋅CO2,grid Global daily average results from the system testing.
Average Maximum Minimum STD
Where,
Eload , is the electrical energy consumed in the system. Meteorological Parameters
Solar irradiation (kWh/m2) 4.9 7.5 1.4 1.8
CO2,grid , are the specific emissions associated to the electric mix, in kg Ambient temperature (◦ C) 15.9 19.5 12.5 1.8
CO2/kWh. Wind speed (m/s) 2.4 4.3 1.2 0.7
Electrical Parameters
• Theoretical thermal CO2 emissions: computed as if all the heat Real Load (kWh) 17.9 19.8 16.7 1.0
Photovoltaic production (kWh) 13.2 20.6 3.3 5.2
consumed in the installation came from a traditional hot water boiler Yield (kWh/kWp) 4.4 6.9 1.1 1.7
using different sources of energy –natural gas, electricity, or diesel Performance Ratio (%) 89.5 93.9 77.7 3.8
oil. Direct photovoltaic self- 31.1 57.8 23.1 9.1
consumption (%)
Qload Global photovoltaic self- 68.2 99.4 51.1 17.3
CO2,theor,th = ⋅CO2,source
ηboiler consumption (%)
Photovoltaic Self-sufficiency (%) 45.7 62.6 17.3 12.3
Where, Stirling electrical production (kWh) 3.8 5.7 2.0 0.9
Qload , is the thermal energy consumed in the system. Grid to load (kWh) 6.0 11.1 3.7 1.9
CO2,source , are the specific emissions associated either to the com­ Thermal parameters
Thermal demand (kWh) 6.8 6.8 6.8 0.0
bustion of the studied fuel or the use of electricity from the grid, in kg Total heat consumption (kWh)a 30.0 37.6 13.0 5.9
CO2/kWh. Solar heat production (kWh) 2.4 5.9 0.0 1.6
ηboiler , is the seasonal efficiency of the studied boiler (85%). Stirling heat production (kWh) 27.5 41.5 13.2 6.5
For the analysis, CO2 emissions factors associated to each energy Dissipated heat (kWh) 23.2 30.3 5.7 5.8
Useful heat (%) 26.9 56.0 17.0 8.7
source have been employed. The employed values for the emission
Theoretical solar coverage (%) 36.2 86.8 0.0 24.9
factors were published for 2018 by the Spanish Ministry for the Energy Real solar production (%) 8.8 15.7 0.0 6.9
Transition [28], and the emission factors for the electrical grid, Real Stirling production (%) 91.2 100.0 84.0 6.9
considering the average generation mix in Spain in 2018, according to Stirling engine performance
the Spanish Electricity Network [29]. These values are shown in Table 5. Stirling engine global efficiency (%) 67.8 71.3 50.4 3.2
Stirling engine electrical efficiency 8.3 8.8 7.7 0.3
(%)
4. Results Stirling engine thermal efficiency 59.5 62.9 42.3 3.2
(%)

The obtained results for 36 days between March 2nd, 2020 and April a
Including the heat consumed to meet the thermal loads and the dissipated
rd
23 , 2020 have been evaluated. The selected days cover a variety of heat in the system.

9
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al.
Fig. 6. Energy balance for the daily average photovoltaic generation.
injected into the electrical network.
The daily average analysis of the electrical load coverage is shown in
Fig. 7. Of the total coverage of the photovoltaic system of the electricity
demand, 20.6% is covered directly by the photovoltaic modules and
25.1% is covered by the photovoltaic energy previously stored in the
batteries. The Stirling cogeneration unit accounts for 20.7% of the
electrical load, with 15.1% of the energy being directly supplied by the
unit, and 5.6% being used after being stored in the batteries.
The results also show that 33.5% of the electrical load could not be
supplied by the system.
The average value for the photovoltaic energy injected to the grid is
4.2 kWh/day, whereas the average value of electricity used from the
grid to meet the electrical loads is 5.9 kWh/day. All the energy gener­
ated in the Stirling Engine Unit is either consumed in the loads or used to
charge the batteries, with an average daily charge of 1.1 kWh/day from
the Stirling unit.
Although an average electrical global PV self-consumption rate of
68,2% has been obtained, when the daily radiation is lower than 3600
Wh/m2, this parameter reaches values close to 100%, and it shows an
inverse linear correlation with the received radiation, as it can be
observed in Fig. 8. The Self-sufficiency increases linearly for daily
Fig. 7. Daily energy average for the electrical load coverage.
10
Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793
Fig. 8. Daily percentages of global PV self-consumption and PV self-sufficiency
as a function on daily irradiation.
irradiance values up to 4.0 kWh /m2 where the self-sufficiency saturates
and reaches a terminal value around 60%.
These results clearly show an imbalance between the installed PV
power and the electric storage capacity of the system to meet the loads.
It is also worth mentioning that the Stirling Engine Unit is capable of
charging the batteries when in operation, thus furthermore reducing the
storage availability for the PV production.
With the studied loads, steps to improve the PV energy usage in the
system are either to increase the electric storage capacity or reducing the
PV installed power.
An energy optimization of this system implies achieving maximum
use of photovoltaic production while covering the highest percentage of
consumption.
The global operation of the photovoltaic system is evaluated with the
global photovoltaic efficiency (GPE). Its maximum value will show the
optimal operation range of the array. Thus, in Fig. 9, the GPE has been
represented as a function of the daily photovoltaic production normal­
ized to the battery capacity.
The highest efficiency is reached when the PV production is of the
order of the size of the accumulation system. At this point, the system is
able to take advantage of 99% of the PV energy produced with a load
coverage of 55%. These results show us that under these conditions, this
system would work more efficiency with a storage system of up to 20
kWh.
These results clearly show an imbalance between the installed PV
power and the electric storage capacity of the system to meet the loads.
It is also worth mentioning that the Stirling Engine Unit is capable of
charging the batteries when in operation, thus furthermore reducing the
storage availability for the PV production.
4.2. Thermal evaluation
On the other hand, Fig. 10 shows the daily average for the thermal
energy usage. The figure shows that only 27% of the thermal energy in
the system was directed towards the thermal demand defined for the
household during the testing. The remaining heat, 73%, was dissipated
due to the hot water storage tank being at a temperature higher than
70 ◦ C.
The average daily heat production in the Stirling Unit has been of
27.5 kWh. In these instances, the cogeneration unit has been functioning
to meet the electrical demand during the night. The heat generation in
the solar collectors has been 2.4 kWh, lower than the heat demand in the
system. Fig. 11 shows the heat generation balance for all the analysed
days, where the Stirling Engine heat production represents the primary
heat source during the tests, accounting for an average 91.2% of the heat
generation. The solar heat production reaches values up to 22.4% of the
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al.
Fig. 9. Global PV efficiency as a function of the daily PV production normalised
to the battery capacity.
Fig. 10. Daily average of the thermal energy usage in the system.
Fig. 11. Heat generation balance for the analysed days.
total heat production, with days with no solar heat generation.
These low values for the solar generation can be explained by the
lack of synchronization between the heat demand curve and solar heat
production, and the heat storage tank being at high temperatures due to
the Stirling Engine operation to supply the electrical demand in the
system: as the electrical energy is generated, so is heat that is transferred
to the storage for its later use in the system. Considering that 73.1% of
the heat generated in the system has been dissipated, it is clear that the
thermal demand profile is uncoupled from the electrical demand,
especially when the Stirling Engine heat generation is the primary
source for heat in the installation.
11
Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793
The thermal demand profile tested during this period only comprises
the Domestic Hot Water needs in the household. With the amount of
heat generated, and considering that the Stirling Engine operation has
been during the night to meet the electrical loads, the usage of the excess
heat to meet the space heating loads should improve the connection
between the heat and electricity needs and the direct usage for the heat
generated by the Stirling Engine. That way, when the unit is required to
supply either heat or electricity loads, there is an equivalent demand in
the other subsystem, reducing the need for higher energy storage.
Fig. 12 shows the theoretical solar coverage for the studied days. This
ratio represents the percentage of the useful heat demand that could
have been supplied exclusively by the solar heat collectors. The average
solar coverage is 36.2%, with values up to 86.8%. However, most of the
days show a theoretical solar coverage lower than 60%, and some days
show no solar coverage.
With the obtained values, a backup heat generation system is
required in addition to the solar heat collectors. The advantage that the
proposed installation shows is the usage of the heat generated when the
Stirling Engine is running to generate electricity, which due to its high
efficiency values, translates into high heat generation. During the ana­
lysed period, all the Stirling Engine starts were to provide for electricity,
being the heat stored in the hot water tank. This heat allowed the system
to be able to supply the current thermal needs with ease, despite the low
solar coverage obtained for some days.
There are different options to increase the heat usage in the system.
Firstly, the heat storage capacity can be increased to reduce the dissi­
pation needs during the operation. However, an increase in heat demand
is also sought, or the dissipation will still be needed. To increase the heat
demand, the system could already meet space heating demands for
colder locations and, with the addition of an absorption cooling system,
the excess heat in the system can be utilised to supply the cooling needs
(space cooling) in the household.
4.3. CO2 emissions analysis
Table 7 shows the obtained results for the CO2 emissions analysis.
The table reflects both the CO2 generated during the testing of the sys­
tem as well as the emissions for a theoretical system without the usage of
solar energy and cogeneration. This study on the CO2 emissions has been
conducted considering the energy consumption of the household,
without taking into account either the dissipated heat or the electricity
exported to the electrical grid.
During the analysed period, the system has shown average emissions
of 4.19 kg CO2 per day, being the emissions associated to the electrical
consumption 62.5% of the total emissions. Compared to the theoretical
emissions, a reduction in CO2 emissions has been achieved irrespective
to the considered source for the heat generation.
Fig. 13 reflects the real emissions (first column) compared to the
three considered theoretical scenarios. While the increase in the thermal
emissions for all the theoretical scenarios (compared to the real
Fig. 12. Theoretical solar coverage for the studied days.
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al. Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793

Table 7
Average, maximum, minimum and std values for the daily CO2 emissions
analysis.
Average Max Min STD

Real emissions
Real electrical emissions 2.62 4.48 1.95 0.56
Real thermal emissions 1.57 2.65 1.08 0.41
Real total emissions 4.19 6.69 3.03 0.90
Theoretical emissions
Theoretical electrical emissions 4.41 4.87 4.10 0.25
Theoretical thermal emissions (natural gas) 1.64 2.14 1.19 0.21
Theoretical thermal emissions (electricity) 1.99 2.60 1.44 0.25
Theoretical thermal emissions (diesel oil) 2.16 2.82 1.56 0.27
Theoretical total emissions (natural gas) 6.05 6.60 5.43 0.33
Theoretical total emissions (electricity) 6.40 6.97 5.68 0.36
Theoretical total emissions (diesel oil) 6.57 7.16 5.80 0.38

Fig. 14. Stirling Engine global, thermal and electrical efficiencies during the
analysed period.

conditions (with an efficiency of 96.9%), the reduction in emissions

Fig. 13. Average values for the CO2 emissions analysis.
emissions) is minimal –due to the high usage of the heat generated in the
Stirling unit, and low solar heat usage–, a reduction of 40.5% in CO2
emissions has been achieved for the electrical system in comparison with
the equivalent amount of electricity used exclusively from the grid.
The total CO2 emissions obtained (4.19 kg CO2) are lower than the
theoretical electrical CO2 emissions (4.41 kg CO2) showing that, with
the proposed system, the emissions generated to meet the complete
energy demand (heat and electricity) in the household are lower than
the current emissions generated to only cover the electrical demand, and
up to 36.2% lower than the total emissions generated in a system using
the grid and a diesel oil boiler.
One step to further reduce the real CO2 emissions in the system
would be to increase the electrical storage capacity. This way, and as
previously discussed, the PV energy usage would increase and the en­
ergetic demand from either the cogeneration unit or the electrical grid
would be reduced.
The Stirling Engine unit operational efficiency can also be improved
to reduce the associated emissions. Fig. 14 shows how, while the elec­
trical efficiency of the unit remains constant during all the tests, the
thermal efficiency shows fluctuations, affecting the global efficiency of
the unit. These variations in the thermal efficiency are mainly caused by
the non-optimal operation of the unit, with several short periods of
operation during each day, where the heating and cooling phases have a
detrimental effect on the efficiency. Testing of the same unit under
steady conditions (prolonged operation without several starts and stops)
has shown global efficiencies of up to 96.9%, with an average efficiency
of 86.2%.
Therefore, with an optimised control strategy that aims to minimize
starts during the testing, the CO2 emissions generated in the installation
could be furthermore reduced. If the unit were to operate under an
average efficiency of 86.2%, the total emissions in the system would
have dropped to 3.62 kg CO2 from the actual average 4.19 kg CO2: a
13.6% reduction from the current average emissions. Under optimal
would be of up to 17.9%, to a total average emissions of 3.44 kg CO2.
The electrical grid generation mix will affect the reduction in CO2
emissions. During the conducted tests, an average of 33.5% of the
electrical demand in the system was provided by the electric grid.
Therefore, the location of the system will have an impact on the emis­
sions generated in the system, and in the achieved emissions reduction.
The studied system is located in the Spanish city of Málaga, where the
average national renewable energy generation for 2018 was 40.1% [29].
For locations with lower renewable generation, the reduction in CO2
emissions will be higher. Systems that employ Natural gas-burning
Stirling engines for micro-CHP prove more effective in standard hous­
es and cold climates with the current electricity mixes, and their benefits
in reducing CO2 emissions will depend on the electricity generation as
well as the fuel used in the system [30].
5. Conclusions
In this paper, the first experimental results from the joint operation
of a novel installation are presented. The system is composed by an EHE
WhisperGen Stirling Engine micro-CHP unit and both PV and solar
thermal collector arrays, with the objective to meet all the energetic
needs – both thermal and electrical– in a household isolated from the
grid. This objective is subject to the generation systems, the energy
storage capacity and the synchronization between the energy produc­
tion and consumption profiles.
The total energy consumption of the evaluated household was 24.7
kWh, where 72.5% was correspondent to the electrical demand and the
remaining 27.5% to the thermal demand.
The analysed period of time covers days under different irradiance
levels, with values ranging from 1.4 to 7.5 kWh/m2. This range of ir­
radiances has allowed to analyse the system performance under a wide
spectrum of meteorological conditions.
The photovoltaic system has worked with an average daily PR of
89.5% and an average daily yield of 4.4 kWh/kWp, covering 45.7% of
the daily electrical demand, and with a global self-sufficiency of 68.2%.
These values, and the need of importing electricity from the grid, show
that the battery capacity is low.
The results show that the proposed installation has been able to
provide 66.4% of the daily electrical demand, with 20.7% being covered
by the Stirling engine. A complete coverage of the daily thermal demand
(6.8 kWh) has been achieved. Data analysis shows that the solar heat
collectors could have supplied 36.2% of the thermal demand, while the
Stirling Engine would cover the remaining 63.8% of the demand.
The Stirling Engine unit has shown a high global efficiency (67.8%),
thanks to its ability to generate heat and electricity simultaneously.
However, with longer periods of operation, the efficiency can reach up

12
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo et al.
to 86.2%, and up to 93.9% under optimal operational conditions.
Electrical coverage –especially during night-time– was deficient,
mainly due to a shortage of storage capacity, and the electricity being
generated by the photovoltaic panels at different hours than the demand
–poor coupling between the demand and generation curves. The micro-
CHP Stirling Engine has always started due to the electrical demand,
which has made available a heat supply much higher than the heat re­
quirements for the household. Although there was a deficient electric
coverage, the system consistently exported electricity to the grid. With
an increase in storage capacity, this excess could be used to cover a
higher percentage of the electric demand and reach higher indepen­
dence from the grid.
The current system configuration has been able to supply 75.6% of
the total energy needs – heat and electricity– of the installation. Thanks
to the Stirling Engine unit, a 100% of the heat demand has been covered,
despite the poor synchronization between the thermal demand and the
solar heat generation. In low irradiance days, the micro-CHP unit was
key to supply the heating needs in the system.
The electrical generation in the Stirling Engine was produced mainly
during night-time to improve the system’s reliability. The importance of
the sizing of the energy storage in the final installation can be extracted
from the obtained results. Thus, for days with high irradiance, a fraction
of the generated electricity needs to be exported to the grid, while the
system is not capable to cover the daily demand. An increase in battery
capacity to 20 kWh (doubling the actual capacity) would allow the
system to cover the whole electrical demand. This new battery capacity
would equal to one day of photovoltaic system autonomy. Previous
studies on stand-alone photovoltaic systems show that a battery capacity
between 3 and 5 days of autonomy is required to obtain the desired
reliability [31,32]. Therefore, this proposed system permits a consid­
erable reduction in the storage needs, and their associated costs.
With this increase in electric energy storage capacity, the system is
expected to be fully autonomous and be able to cover an additional
thermal load of up to 30 kWh either in space heating or air conditioning,
as the cooling load will be higher in warmer weather, where the irra­
diation is at its maximum levels, and the cooling profile could be met
with the solar energy and the support from the Stirling Engine. The
control strategy for the system is crucial to reduce the environmental
impact and reliability in the installation [33], and an optimization of
said strategy will be conducted in future work, as well as the component
sizing according to the climatic conditions of the site.
The obtained results show that the joint operation of micro-CHP
systems with solar heat collectors and photovoltaic panels allow for a
significant reduction in CO2 emissions. A 36.2% reduction in the CO2
emissions has been achieved, comparing the proposed system with a
traditional installation using the electricity from the grid and the heat
generated in a diesel oil boiler.
When comparing the reduction in CO2 emissions for the electricity
usage, the system achieved a reduction of 40.5% in those emissions,
compared to a system with the same electricity consumption obtained
from the electrical network. In addition, the total CO2 daily emissions
generated to run the system, 4.19 kg CO2, are lower than the 4.41 kg CO2
correspondent to the electrical consumption if it were taken from the
grid. That is, with the proposed installation, the total energy demand for
the household can be supplied with lower CO2 emissions than the cur­
rent emissions generated just to supply the electrical demand.
In future research, it would be desirable to fulfil the following items:
• An evaluation of the proposed installation with different demand
curves and under different radiation conditions shall be conducted,
to assess the capacity of the system to adapt to different operating
conditions.
• Different control strategies will be evaluated to optimize the
different systems and improve the independence from the electrical
grid.
13
Energy Conversion and Management 230 (2021) 113793
• An upgrade of the current installation to a trigeneration system is
planned. With the incorporation of an absorption chiller, both
heating and cooling demand profiles will be evaluated, increasing
the heat usage in the system, and therefore achieving lower values
for the CO2 emissions.
• The sustainability of the system can be improved by evaluating the
performance of different energy sources, such as biogas or biomass,
achieving zero CO2 emissions.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
J.A. Auñón-Hidalgo: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Method­
ology, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Project administration. M.
Sidrach-de-Cardona: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodol­
ogy, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Project administration. F.
Auñón-Rodríguez: Investigation, Methodology, Software, Writing -
original draft.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Inno­
vation and Universities through its I+D+i Projects [project reference
RTI2018-095097-B-I00]; by the the Spanish Economy and Competi­
tiveness Ministry through the National Programme for Fostering Excel­
lence in Scientific and Technical Research in the Spanish National Plan
for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation [project reference
UNMA13-1E-1672]; and by the University of Málaga.
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