LAUSR

This study proposed an exhaust air heat recovery and solar energy combined thermal compensation system (ESTC) for ground-coupled heat pumps. Based on the prediction of the next day’s exhaust air temperature and solar irradiance, an optimized thermal compensation (OTC) method was developed in this study as well, in which the exhaust air heat recovery compensator and solar energy compensator in the ESTC system run at high efficiency throughout various times of day. Moreover, a modified solar term similar days group (STSDG) method was proposed to improve the accuracy of solar irradiance prediction in hazy weather. This modified STSDG method was based on air quality forecast and AQI (air quality index) correction factors. Through analyzing the operating parameters and the simulation results of a case study, the ESTC system proved to have good performance and high efficiency in eliminating the heat imbalance by using the OTC method. The thermal compensation quantity per unit energy consumption (TEC) of ESTC under the proposed method was 1.25 times as high as that under the traditional operation method. The modified STSDG method also exhibited high accuracy. For the accumulated solar irradiance of the four highest daily radiation hours, the monthly mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) between the predicted values and the measured values was 6.35%.