Systems with air/water hybrid collector

Relatively new systems are those that combine an air/water hybrid collector, a combined water/ice based storage tank and a heat pump. When exposed to sunlight, the systems function in the same way as conventional solar systems; the heated solar fluid flows directly into the combi-reservoir. In low solar radiation, on the other hand, ambient air is forced through the collector by a fan. This brings the solar fluid to a low temperature level and flows into the latent heat storage tank. There it serves as a heat source for the heat pump. (Lenz et al. 2010)