Environmental impact of an innovative solar-biomass hybrid system for residential applications

SolBio-Rev is an EU Horizon 2020-funded project which aims to develop an innovative hybrid system based on the use of solar and biomass energy to provide heating, cooling, domestic hot water (DHW), and electricity in both residential and non-residential buildings. The system includes novel components such as solar collectors with thermoelectric generators, a high efficiency biomass boiler and a reversible organic Rankine cycle/heatpump. This paper shows the study done to evaluate the environmental impact of this innovative system designed for a residential building located in a continental climate. Data for manufacturing were collected through a detailed questionnaire to collect information related to the materials used. Results of the life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) showed that the SolBio-Rev system, although is made of complex innovative components, has the highest share of emission during the operational phase being the dry cooler, solar collectors, and the reversible heat pump/ORC the components with the highest impact. The results of this analysis give input for points of future improvement for the SolBio-Rev system, which mainly concerns the increase in efficiency of the ORC/heat pump including cold storage at night and the optimization of control strategies to minimize the energy consumption or maximize the share of renewable that could be beneficial.