Abstract

This thesis presents the optimization of a model of a solar combisystem installed in an energy efficient house in the climate of Montreal, Quebec. The work presented in the thesis includes: 1) A methodology for the optimization of a solar collector system based on four different objective functions; 2) The development of a computer-based platform for combisystem optimization; 3) Recommendations for the optimal configurations of a solar combisystem to minimize life cycle cost, life cycle energy use and life cycle exergy destroyed; and 4) The analysis of the performance of the hybrid stochastic, evolutionary and deterministic optimization approach.
The optimizations, using is a hybrid particle swarm and Hooke-Jeeves optimization algorithm, were able to reduce the life cycle cost of the combisystem by 19%, the life cycle energy use by 24%, the life cycle exergy destroyed by 33% and 24% for the technical boundary and physical boundary, respectively.
Due to the high cost of the solar collector technologies and the low price of electricity in Quebec, none of the configurations have acceptable financial payback periods. However, all of the configurations have energy payback times within 7 years.
For the life cycle exergy destroyed, using the technical boundary favors the use of electricity over solar energy due to the low exergy efficiency of the solar collectors. Using the physical boundary, on the other hand, favors the use of solar energy over electricity.