Ground and solar assisted heat pump systems for space heating and cooling applications in the northern region of India - A study on energy and CO2 saving potential

In the recent past, energy demand of India has increased multifold as a fast-growing developing country, due to progressive expansion of industrial and building sectors. The demand for devices that provide both cooling and heating has increased in both commercial and residential buildings. However, nearly two-thirds of electricity generation in India is obtained from fossil fuel sources such as coal, oil and gas. Hence any attempt to save electricity consumption by the conventional space heating/cooling devices will benefit the country to meet other electricity demands and will indirectly aid for reduction in CO2 emission. Ground source heat pumps (GSHP) and solar assisted GSHP are sustainable systems that consume less electricity compared to conventional devices. They can achieve cooling and heating more efficiently by exploiting the temperature difference between the deep ground and ambient during winter and summer. In this research work, a detailed analysis has been made to assess the scope for the use of GSHP and Solar Assisted Ground Source Heat Pump (SAGSHP) systems for space cooling and heating applications in ten cities located in northern region of India. Calculations on the saving of electricity and reduction in CO2 emission has been carried out by comparing SAGSHP with conventional devices such as electric heater, solar coupled heat pump system for space heating. Air-conditioners are compared with GSHP for space cooling. Implementation of SAGSHP and GSHP technologies for space heating and cooling applications will result in the saving of 151.77 GW of electricity for space heating in ten cities and 88.39 GW of electricity for space cooling in six cities respectively with forthright reduction in CO2 emission of 123.83 million ton and 144.2 million ton. For 1.5-ton capacity heating load of SAGSHP and cooling load of GSHP, the payback period is estimated as 6.8 and 4.5 years respectively.