VASSI
Vides aizsardzības un siltuma sistēmu institūts

European Economic Area financial Mechanism
Program “Environmental policy and integration of Latvia”
Subproject “Compact solar and pellet module”

Project information

In August, 2009 Riga Technical University Institute of Energy Systems and Environment in cooperation with three Latvian companies SIA "Grandeg", SIA "VIA – S” and SIA “CC&R Investments" launched project "Compact solar and granular module" funded by the European Economic Area financial Mechanism.
A compact heating system on joint operation of solar collectors and pellet boiler will be developed and created in the framework of the project. This system is aimed to provide heat for space heating and domestic hot water in apartment building.
At the end of project the developed system will be mounted for one multi-family house to cover its heat demand.

Solar energy and pellets for heating of apartment building

The main heat source of the system is a pellet boiler that provides heat for space heating and domestic hot water in the apartment building. Solar collectors for the heat production are used on sunny days. Produced hot water is initially stored in tanks and later used when needed.
Effective operation of the system is based on the best use of solar heat and if the solar energy is not sufficient additional heat is produced using the pellet boiler. A container (3.5 x 10 m) will be placed in the apartment building where the pellet boiler, wood pellet storage tank, hot water tanks, and the technical equipment that is needed to ensure successful work of the system will be installed. The solar collectors will be placed on the roof of the building.
A connection between the container and the cold water, hot water and heating systems and power distribution of the building will be made to ensure operation of the system.

Apartment building for demonstration project

A building located in Sigulda, 2 Kr. Barona Street was selected for the demonstration project. The building has 3 floors, 30 apartments, and the total heated area of 1671.4 m2. In May 2010 an energy audit was performed in the building. The windows were replaced in most of the apartments (in about 56% of them) and it has been planned to insulate the building. The building has a flat roof suitable for mounting the collectors. It also has an autonomous heating system provided by two natural gas boilers. Consequently, this building is suitable for implementation of the demonstration project.

Currently, the work process is going on to design the installation of solar collectors on the roof of the building. The building is divided into three blocks and collectors will be installed on each of them. As shown in photos the frame where solar collectors will be mounted later has already been installed on one block.

Simulations of prototype and calculations

Compact solar and pellet module yearly energy balance is shown in the image below. 261.6 MWh of heat will be produced within a year, of which 94% or 246.1 MWh will be produced by the pellet boilers and 6% or 15.5 MWh will be produced by the solar collectors.

The major part or 77% of heat energy is consumed for heating of the building in the winter time when practically only pellet boiler is operated. Much less hot water is used for domestic hot water, t.i. approximately 13% of the entire energy produced by the system. The remaining 10% of produced heat is heat losses from the hot water circulation and losses in the storage tank.
Hot water for domestic use is demanded throughout the year and in the summer it is provided by the solar collectors.
Calculations were made in the framework of the project in order to forecast compact solar and pellet module operating costs and to determine the cost savings from replacement the existing heating system. There was also calculated the energy consumption for demonstration building for existing situation and after the insulation.

As the table shows in case if insulation of building is performed the energy consumption will decrease by 38% from 484 to 300 MWh/year. The top line shows that even without the insulation the costs of pellets for the production of heat would be almost 20% lower than the costs of natural gas. High price of the pellets was used in the calculating - 110 EUR/t as well as forecasted increase of natural gas prices by 30% staring next was considered. Savings achieved by implementation of the two proposed measures are significant - the heating costs are reduced by half, which means that inhabitants of the building will save more than 8 thousand Lats each year.
Also, the calculations on pellet container replenishment factory were made. Container has a capacity of more than 8 tons of pellets. Consumption of pellets after insulation will be ≈75 t/year; therefore containers have to be refilled 9-10 times per year.

News

Anketa

Elektroniskā avīze Nr. 1

Elektroniskā avīze Nr. 2

Elektroniskā avīze Nr. 3

Elektroniskā avīze Nr. 4

24. februārī aizvadīts seminārs “Atjaunojamie energoresursi ēku siltumapgādei”

Kontaktinformācija
Alise Bērziņa
Rīgas Tehniskās universitātes
Vides aizsardzības un siltuma sistēmu institūts
Tel. 67089923
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www.videszinatne.lv

Saņemts atbalsts no Eiropas Ekonomikas zonas finanšu instrumenta līdzfinansētās programmas "Vides politikas integrācijas programma Latvijā" līdzekļiem.

Pievienotie faili:

Nosaukums	Apraksts	Faila izmērs
Avīze Nr.3		213 Kb
Avīze Nr. 1		182 Kb
Projekta prezentācija izstādē “Vide un enerģija” 2010.gada 16.oktobrī		1524 Kb