In-situ performance evaluation by simulation of a coupled air source heat pump/PV-T collector system

Thermal coupling between a heat pump and a hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PV-T) collector is efficient for two reasons. First the heat produced by the PV-T collector raises the temperature of the cold source of the heat pump, increasing its coefficient of performance. Secondly the PV collector can be cooled in a more efficient manner than in usual cases, which increases its efficiency.  
The aim of the paper is to describe the work that has been done to evaluate by simulation the performance of such a system installed in a demonstration building. 
Models have been developed for all components and coupled to a dynamic thermal simulation tool. Calculation has been compared to monitoring results, and then used to evaluate the performance of the installed system by comparison with the same building without the system.