Domestic energy and water demand coverage through thermal- and electric-based polygeneration systems

Abstract

Final energy is used to develop any activity in different areas such as education, health, agriculture, food production, water supply, industry and residential. Therefore, the conversion of primary energy and the technology used for this purpose are key to future sustainability. That energy supply reaches all regions of the world, specifically in isolated areas, is an indicator of human development. This paper analyzes the coverage of domestic demands (drinking water, heating, cooling, and electricity) with polygeneration systems in a house in an isolated area as a case study. Two schemes using renewable energies are proposed, one based on solar energy and biomass (thermal) and the other on solar energy (electrical). The case study is located in the Mediterranean area, Tarragona. The work methodology begins with the review of the state of the art and study of polygeneration systems (configurations, technologies used and comparison of results). Then, two models were made in the Engineer equation solver (EES) program. This program made it possible to calculate the results necessary for the comparison of the two systems. The average values for a winter, spring, summer and autumn day were used for the relative comparison in the analysis of the results. Finally, for the demands supplied, a numerical analysis was performed to obtain the energy yield. This work can be interesting as a reference for future projects focused on supplying, on a small scale and with renewable energies in isolated areas, all the demands of an isolated single-family house.