Impact of location characteristics on renewable energy production for a group of buildings

Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, Wrocław 50-370, Poland

^* Corresponding author: krystianszczerbak@gmail.com

Abstract

The climate in Poland is slightly disparate in each region. The differences in temperature not always come along with the intensity of solar radiation in 5 climate zones. South of the country is colder, but well irradiated by the Sun and northern regions have milder climate, but are less irradiated. This fact alone makes people consider the suitability and safety of using renewable energy sources such as air-to-water heat pumps, solar collectors and photovoltaics instead of more traditional, fossil fuel powered sources. This paper presents a comparison analysis of energy demand and the cost for heating in a group of single-family buildings by 4 variants (gas boiler, gas boiler and solar collectors, air-to-water heat pump, air-to-water heat pump and photovoltaics) in 5 chosen cities in each polish climate zone. Calculations were done for space heating and domestic hot water energy demand, CO2 emissions and cumulative costs for all variants and locations. The results confirm the inconsistency of polish climate and have shown profitability and utility of renewable energy sources.