DOI: https://doi.org/10.61435/ijred.2026.62719
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Techno-economic and environmental assessment of source-side and load-side PV/T-assisted ground source heat pump systems

Shandong Huayu University of Technology, No. 968, East Daxue Road, Dezhou, 253000, Shandong, China

Received: 7 May 2026; Revised: 29 Jul 2026; Accepted: 20 Sep 2026; Available online: 3 Oct 2026; Published: 1 Nov 2026.
Editor(s): H Hadiyanto
Open Access Copyright (c) 2026 The Author(s). Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Building heating consumes substantial energy and contributes significantly to global carbon emissions. Integrating photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) modules with ground source heat pumps (GSHP) offers a promising sustainable solution, effectively addressing the soil thermal imbalance and low energy efficiency inherent in conventional GSHP systems. This study proposes and mathematically models two hybrid configurations: PV/T modules integrated on the source side and the load side, respectively. Component models were validated against experimental data (maximum error < 6%) to conduct a comprehensive 20-year comparative assessment across energy, economic, environmental, and soil thermal balance dimensions. Simulation results indicate that both configurations successfully mitigate soil temperature decline, achieving long-term soil thermal balance and effective seasonal solar thermal storage. However, the source-side PV/T-GSHP system exhibits superior overall performance. It delivers a higher Primary Energy Ratio (PER) and Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER), a lower Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of 0.36 RMB/kWh, an 11.14% higher annual total cost-saving rate, and an 8.47% improvement in CO₂ emission reductions compared to the load-side system. These findings provide optimized configuration strategies and reliable performance data for PV/T-GSHP systems, significantly promoting the efficient utilization of solar-geothermal hybrid energy in low-carbon building applications.

Keywords: PV/T-GSHP system; Nonlinear modeling; Sustainable building heating; Performance comparison
Funding: Shandong Engineering Research Center of Low-Carbon Energy Internet of Things Technology

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Section: Original Research Article
Language : EN
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