Thermal performance of combined solar and pellet heating systems

Various pellet heating systems are marketed in Sweden, some of them in combination with a solar heating system. Several types of pellet heating units are available and can be used for a combined system. This article compares four typical combined solar and pellet heating systems. System 1 and 2 with a pellet stove, system 3 with a store integrated pellet burner and system 4 with a pellet boiler. The often lower efficiency of pellet heaters compared to oil or gas heaters increases the final energy demand. Consequently, heat losses of the various systems have been studied. The systems have been modeled in TRNSYS and simulated with parameters identified from measurements. For almost all systems the flue gas losses are the main heat losses except for system 3 where store heat losses prevail. Relevant are also the heat losses of the burner and the boiler to the ambient. Significant leakage losses are noticed for system 3 and 4. For buildings with an open internal design system 1 is the most efficient solution. Other buildings should preferably apply system 2 or 3. The right choice of the system depends also on whether the heater is placed inside or outside of the heated area. Unlike the expectations and results from other studies, the operation of the pellet heaters with modulating combustion power is not necessarily improving the performance. A large potential for system optimisation exists for all studied systems, which when applied could alter the relative merits of the different system types.