Supplying heating and cooling demands in buildings is very energy intensive and is accompanied by large CO2 emissions. Future smart and efficient energy management systems for space cooling and heating in building applications call for novel solutions to store heat to decouple the energy demand and the availability of renewable energy sources. Latent thermal energy storages represent one of the most promising solutions; however, their cost-effective implementation in terms of energy and cost savings still have to be properly evaluated in the residential sector scenario. This study aims to investigate the advantages of PV-driven cooling coupled with latent thermal energy storage for residential application. Taking as an input the experimental characterization of a novel 18 kWh latent thermal energy storage which uses the roll bond technology to store and release cold energy exploiting the solid/liquid phase change process of 300 kg of a bio-based PCM. A numerical study is carried out to investigate the potential benefits on a 100 m2 single dwelling in three locations: Milan, Madrid and Cairo. The model is developed using TRNSYS and it includes a new type of the latent thermal energy storage based on the experimental results. The results explore the interactions be-tween the single dwelling and the A/C system as a function of the PV, and of the LTES to estimate the energy savings. The study found that installing a LTES system can achieve energy savings of up to 91% when the cooling system is also integrated with a photovoltaic array.
On the Use of Latent Thermal Energy Storage for Sustainable Residential Space Cooling
Slaviero G.;Valentini F.;Zilio C.;Mancin S.
2026
Abstract
Supplying heating and cooling demands in buildings is very energy intensive and is accompanied by large CO2 emissions. Future smart and efficient energy management systems for space cooling and heating in building applications call for novel solutions to store heat to decouple the energy demand and the availability of renewable energy sources. Latent thermal energy storages represent one of the most promising solutions; however, their cost-effective implementation in terms of energy and cost savings still have to be properly evaluated in the residential sector scenario. This study aims to investigate the advantages of PV-driven cooling coupled with latent thermal energy storage for residential application. Taking as an input the experimental characterization of a novel 18 kWh latent thermal energy storage which uses the roll bond technology to store and release cold energy exploiting the solid/liquid phase change process of 300 kg of a bio-based PCM. A numerical study is carried out to investigate the potential benefits on a 100 m2 single dwelling in three locations: Milan, Madrid and Cairo. The model is developed using TRNSYS and it includes a new type of the latent thermal energy storage based on the experimental results. The results explore the interactions be-tween the single dwelling and the A/C system as a function of the PV, and of the LTES to estimate the energy savings. The study found that installing a LTES system can achieve energy savings of up to 91% when the cooling system is also integrated with a photovoltaic array.
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