Structural Design of the mCCHP-RES System - Design for Micro-Combined Cooling, Heating and Power Systems - page 151

Fig. 7 Solar energy potential in Europe [ 4 ]
Since the solar radiation is the main source of renewable energy and, moreover,
using solar energy is suitable for microCCHP, this source will be evaluated further.
On the other hand, the PV panels and ST panels can be placed directly on the
ground, without any restriction, or on the building, when several limitations (of
physical and architectural nature) occur. That is why we evaluate below separately
the solar energy potential of the territory and the solar energy potential of the
building.
A. Solar energy potential of the European territory
Under territory of EU member states, on a horizontal surface of 1 m 2 , it is possible
to capture an annual quantity of solar energy ranging between 800 and 1,650 kWh/
m 2 /year, according to the geographical location (Fig. 7 ). Annual total potential in
NW Europe is approx. 100 kWh/m 2 /year (approx. 50 % direct and 50 % diffuse
radiation) and in southern Europe is approx. 2,000 kWh/m 2 /year.
The resource distribution was taken into account to estimate the PV production
for each of the EU 27 countries according to their potential based on the irradiation
level (Table 3 ).