Solar district heating system with large heat storage: Energy, exergy, economic and environmental (4E) analysis

In the context of the global energy crisis and climate change, solar district heating systems are an essential technology that can mitigate this problem. To accelerate the transition to sustainability, a proven solar district heating system and an analysis method are needed to serve as a role model. For this purpose, a techno-economic analysis method is proposed in this study. It consists of a bi-directional long short-term memory method for correcting outlier data and a balanced method for energy and exergy analyses. The solar district heating system with large-scale thermal storage in Dronninglund, Denmark, is investigated in detail. The design of this system is centered on an integrated control strategy that synchronizes the solar collector loop, the energy storage loop, and the heating load loop to improve overall efficiency. The results show an increase in solar collector efficiency to 41 %, thermal storage efficiency to 89 %, and a coefficient of performance to 1.74 for the absorption heat pump. This integration increases the system’s coefficient of performance dramatically to 2.9, with a renewable energy percentage of 77 %. Exergy analysis shows a storage exergy of 68 % and a heat pump exergy of 49 %, which suggests that the system has a highly efficient energy conversion. The annual heating demand for the industrial and residential branches is 7,450 MWh and 28,100 MWh, respectively, which are covered by solar (42 %), biomass oil (35 %), and natural gas (23 %). The economic assessment shows that the net present value could rise from −5.5 million euros over 10 years to 15.2 million euros over 40 years, indicating long-term economic advantages. The system achieves 122 kg/MWh of carbon reduction with a 0.92 carbon neutrality factor, which is carbon neutral. This study provides a compelling case for deploying large-scale solar heating systems, offering a robust analysis method and insightful findings for technological developments and economic optimizations.