Thermal and economic comparisons for sensible and latent storage in residential systems

Science Applications, Inc. analyzed various configurations for using thermal energy storage to improve the thermal and economic performance of solar cooling and heating systems for residences. The storage concepts evaluated were short term thermal storage provided via the bulk containment of water or salt hydrates. Evaluations included energy requirements for space heating, space cooling (3 ton capacity) and water heating. All storage/solar systems were simulated in Miami, Ft. Worth, Phoenix, and Washington, DC. Configurations were of four types: hot side sensible, hot side latent, cold side sensible and cold side latent. Results were optimized both for collector area and storage size. The major conclusion is that these systems do offer reasonable energy saving potential but are not and will not be competitive on a life cycle cost basis with conventional alternatives without some major systems cost reductions, subsidy or the removal of conventional system subsidies.