A Techno-Economic Investigation on Insulating Glass Solar Thermal Flat-Plate Collectors for District Heating Systems in Europe
type: CreativeWork
description: The large-scale integration of solar thermal collector arrays into district heating networks has emerged as a global trend with the objective of decarbonising heating supply. To accelerate the expansion of this renewable heating technology, it is advantageous to achieve significantly lower heat generation costs compared to fossil fuel-based alternatives. However, over the past decades, this has not been the case when considering the long-term averages. Furthermore, the subsidisation undertaken to compete with fossil-based heating systems and the financial risks associated with high upfront investment demonstrates the need to enhance cost-effectiveness. This study investigates the techno-economic performance of novel insulating glass flat-plate collectors compared to market-available collector types for European solar district heating systems. These collectors combine insulating glass unit manufacturing technology with the design principles of conventional flat-plate solar thermal collectors. While the concept was introduced more than a decade ago, the focus was on domestic use rather than large-scale applications. This thesis presents a novel design created specifically for this application. However, its performance and economic viability in large-scale district heating applications have not yet been thoroughly assessed. The aim of this thesis is to address this gap through a combination of theoretical and experimental analyses both on component level and system level. A literature review was conducted to identify previous research findings in the field, followed by numerical modelling and optimisation of the collectors. Experimental investigations include the production of prototypes, thermal performance measurements, and durability assessments. In addition, key system-level performance indicators were evaluated, and a techno-economic analysis was carried out to compare the potential heat generation costs of the novel collectors with conventional systems. The findi…
abstract: The large-scale integration of solar thermal collector arrays into district heating networks has emerged as a global trend with the objective of decarbonising heating supply. To accelerate the expansion of this renewable heating technology, it is advantageous to achieve significantly lower heat generation costs compared to fossil fuel-based alternatives. However, over the past decades, this has not been the case when considering the long-term averages. Furthermore, the subsidisation undertaken to compete with fossil-based heating systems and the financial risks associated with high upfront investment demonstrates the need to enhance cost-effectiveness. This study investigates the techno-economic performance of novel insulating glass flat-plate collectors compared to market-available collector types for European solar district heating systems. These collectors combine insulating glass unit manufacturing technology with the design principles of conventional flat-plate solar thermal collectors. While the concept was introduced more than a decade ago, the focus was on domestic use rather than large-scale applications. This thesis presents a novel design created specifically for this application. However, its performance and economic viability in large-scale district heating applications have not yet been thoroughly assessed. The aim of this thesis is to address this gap through a combination of theoretical and experimental analyses both on component level and system level. A literature review was conducted to identify previous research findings in the field, followed by numerical modelling and optimisation of the collectors. Experimental investigations include the production of prototypes, thermal performance measurements, and durability assessments. In addition, key system-level performance indicators were evaluated, and a techno-economic analysis was carried out to compare the potential heat generation costs of the novel collectors with conventional systems. The findi…
author: Summ, Thorsten Marvin Karl-Heinz
license: https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstreams/82273209-e818-4f30-905b-f9efd87abc14/download
date published: 2025-02
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:18:27Z
provider: De Montfort University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: De Montfort University