A PVT (Photovoltaic-Thermal) source heat pump can serve as an innovative and sustainable energy source for powering heat pumps. A PVT panel is an advanced solar panel that generates both photovoltaic (electric) and thermal (water/glycol) energy.

These panels deliver both electric and thermal energy, both of which are crucial for the operation of a heat pump. However, it's important to note that various types of PVT panels are available in the market. Standard PVT panels are designed to dissipate the heat generated by the photovoltaic section, often with insulation at the bottom of the panels.

PVT panels suitable as a source for a heat pump are specifically designed to absorb as much heat as possible, even at the bottom, and do not contain thermal insulation.

In the simplest setup, a heat pump is considered a ground-source heat pump, but the source is not ground energy; instead, it extracts energy from the air through the PVT panels.

A mixing valve on the source side ensures that the heat pump is not presented with too high of a source temperature. The maximum source temperature varies per brand of heat pump but is usually between 20 and 30 °C. In the summer, the thermal collector provides water warmer than 30 °C, and the mixing valve partially combines the cold returning from the evaporator with the heat from the collector to stay just below the maximum allowed temperature.

The advantage over a 'normal' air/water heat pump is that no outdoor unit with a fan is needed, meaning there is no noise source outside that could potentially bother you or your neighbors.

This solution works best if you try to heat as much as possible during the day and possibly use a few degrees of night setback at night. You can also heat the domestic hot water tank during the day, extracting the most energy during the day, which has two advantages: during the day, the outside temperature is warmer than at night, resulting in a better efficiency for the heat pump, and by extracting energy during the day, the panels cool outside, which again means a more favorable efficiency for the PV panels.

As a rule of thumb, it is assumed that for every kilowatt of installed transmission power, 5 square meters of PVT panels are needed. For a 6 kW transmission/