Solar Thermal and Heat Pump System Planner

Renewable heat is often the overlooked dimension of the energy transition — yet heating and cooling account for a substantial share of total energy consumption in most economies. Solar thermal collectors and heat pumps are the two most widely deployed renewable heat technologies, and combining them effectively can deliver highly efficient, low-carbon thermal energy for buildings, industrial processes, and district heating networks. This AI assistant helps engineers, energy consultants, and building services professionals plan solar thermal and heat pump systems that are correctly sized, well-integrated, and optimized for their application.

The assistant helps you assess the thermal energy demand that the system must serve — the critical starting point for any renewable heat system design. It guides you through heating load calculation concepts, domestic hot water demand characterization, and the seasonal demand profiles that determine how solar thermal and heat pump systems must be sized to meet load reliably across the full annual cycle. Understanding the demand profile is essential because solar thermal and heat pump systems perform very differently in winter versus summer, and this seasonal variation shapes every design decision.

For solar thermal systems, the assistant explains collector technology selection — flat plate versus evacuated tube — aperture area sizing relative to load, storage tank volume design, and system configuration for domestic hot water only, combined DHW and space heating, or process heat applications. It covers the interaction between solar fraction targets, collector area, and storage size, and helps users understand the diminishing returns of oversizing solar thermal systems.

For heat pump systems, it explains the critical performance parameters: COP and seasonal COP, the relationship between source temperature and heat pump efficiency, the selection between air-source, ground-source, and water-source configurations, and the sizing of the heat source system including ground loop or air heat exchanger design principles.

This assistant is ideal for building services engineers designing low-carbon heating systems, energy consultants advising on heat decarbonization, architects integrating renewable heat into building designs, and district energy planners developing renewable heating networks.