Experimental Performance Analysis of an Integrated Air Conditioning Split Heat Pump System for Application in a Mediterranean Climate

In this chapter, an experimental setup of an integrated air conditioning split heat pump system is elaborated in detail together with a performance analysis. The proposed energy system consists of a standard split air conditioning device and boiler for hot water preparation, and the whole system is driven by a small photovoltaic (PV) plant. The energy system was tested in a cooling and heating regime in a location with typical Mediterranean climate to determine the average performance parameters. The main goal of the conducted research was to utilize existing market-available energy technologies that can be found in majority of building applications, both residential and commercial, in the form of a modified (hybrid) energy system. The performance analysis shows a market potential for the proposed energy solution as it is suitable from the aspect of energy efficiency and also presents a renewable energy system that can be easily implemented into building applications. Namely, the average COP value was 5.3 for heating mode and 5.4 for cooling mode, the mean electricity consumption ranged from 0.55 to 1.14 kWh, the mean water temperature ranged from 42 to 46 °C, and, finally, the PV system autonomy ranged from 6 h in winter operation to 12 h in summer operation. In general, the cooling mode was more efficient in terms of achieved performance parameters.