IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i3p763-d1333972.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the Effectiveness of an Innovative Thermal Energy Storage System Installed in a Building in a Moderate Continental Climatic Zone

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Coelho

    (MARE—IPS—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Escola Superior de Tecnologia, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Campus do IPS—Estefanilha, 2910-761 Setúbal, Portugal)

  • Maria K. Koukou

    (Energy and Environmental Research Laboratory, Evripus Campus, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 34400 Psachna, Evia, Greece)

  • John Konstantaras

    (Energy and Environmental Research Laboratory, Evripus Campus, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 34400 Psachna, Evia, Greece)

  • Michail Gr. Vrachopoulos

    (Energy and Environmental Research Laboratory, Evripus Campus, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 34400 Psachna, Evia, Greece)

  • Amandio Rebola

    (MARE—IPS—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Escola Superior de Tecnologia, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Campus do IPS—Estefanilha, 2910-761 Setúbal, Portugal)

  • Anastasia Benou

    (Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES), Marathonos 19th Km, 19009 Pikermi, Greece)

  • Constantine Karytsas

    (Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES), Marathonos 19th Km, 19009 Pikermi, Greece)

  • Pavlos Tourou

    (Institute for Power Systems Technology and Power Mechatronics, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany)

  • Constantinos Sourkounis

    (Institute for Power Systems Technology and Power Mechatronics, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany)

  • Heiko Gaich

    (Geoteam Technisches Buro fur Hydrogeologie, Geothermie und Umwelt GMBH, Bahnhofguertel 77/4, 8020 Graz, Austria)

  • Johan Goldbrunner

    (Geoteam Technisches Buro fur Hydrogeologie, Geothermie und Umwelt GMBH, Bahnhofguertel 77/4, 8020 Graz, Austria)

Abstract

In the present work, the operating results from an innovative, renewable, energy-based space-heating and domestic hot water (DHW) system are shown. The system used solar thermal energy as its primary source and was assisted by a shallow geothermal application in order to accommodate the space-heating and DHW needs of a domestic building in Austria. The system incorporated phase-change materials (PCMs) in specially designed containers to function as heat-storage modules and provide an energy storage capability for both the space-heating and DHW subsystems. This system was designed, implemented, and tested under real operating conditions in a building for a period of one year. The operating and energy results for the system are demonstrated in this work. The system was compared with a conventional one, and a reduction in the primary energy consumption equal to 84.3% was achieved. The maintenance and operating costs of the system were reduced by 79.7% compared to the conventional system, thus significantly contributing to the NZEB target of the building. The newly proposed system, although presenting an increased operating complexity, utilizes an innovative self-learning control system that manages all of its operations. The combination of a solar thermal energy source with thermal energy storage increases the use of renewable energy by extending the capacity of the system beyond the solar hours and using excess solar energy for space-heating needs. The thermal energy storage unit also increases the energy and economic efficiency of the geothermal heat pump by operating it during the hours of a reduced electricity tariff and using the stored energy during hours of a high electricity demand. The cost for the installation of such a system is higher than a conventional one, but due to the significantly decreased operating costs, the pay-back period was calculated to be 8.7 years.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Coelho & Maria K. Koukou & John Konstantaras & Michail Gr. Vrachopoulos & Amandio Rebola & Anastasia Benou & Constantine Karytsas & Pavlos Tourou & Constantinos Sourkounis & Heiko Gaich & Johan G, 2024. "Assessing the Effectiveness of an Innovative Thermal Energy Storage System Installed in a Building in a Moderate Continental Climatic Zone," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-19, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:3:p:763-:d:1333972
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/3/763/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/3/763/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Skandalos, Nikolaos & Karamanis, Dimitris, 2021. "An optimization approach to photovoltaic building integration towards low energy buildings in different climate zones," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Federico Minelli & Diana D’Agostino & Maria Migliozzi & Francesco Minichiello & Pierpaolo D’Agostino, 2023. "PhloVer: A Modular and Integrated Tracking Photovoltaic Shading Device for Sustainable Large Urban Spaces—Preliminary Study and Prototyping," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-35, August.
    2. Sohani, Ali & Cornaro, Cristina & Shahverdian, Mohammad Hassan & Moser, David & Pierro, Marco & Olabi, Abdul Ghani & Karimi, Nader & Nižetić, Sandro & Li, Larry K.B. & Doranehgard, Mohammad Hossein, 2023. "Techno-economic evaluation of a hybrid photovoltaic system with hot/cold water storage for poly-generation in a residential building," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    3. Skandalos, Nikolaos & Wang, Meng & Kapsalis, Vasileios & D'Agostino, Delia & Parker, Danny & Bhuvad, Sushant Suresh & Udayraj, & Peng, Jinqing & Karamanis, Dimitris, 2022. "Building PV integration according to regional climate conditions: BIPV regional adaptability extending Köppen-Geiger climate classification against urban and climate-related temperature increases," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Shaohang Shi & Jingfen Sun & Mengjia Liu & Xinxing Chen & Weizhi Gao & Yehao Song, 2022. "Energy-Saving Potential Comparison of Different Photovoltaic Integrated Shading Devices (PVSDs) for Single-Story and Multi-Story Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Shaohang Shi & Ning Zhu, 2023. "Challenges and Optimization of Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) Windows: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-30, November.
    6. Shin, Dong-Youn & Shin, Woo-Gyun & Hwang, Hye-Mi & Kang, Gi-Hwan, 2023. "Grid-type LED media façade with reflective walls for building-integrated photovoltaics with virtually no shading loss," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
    7. Sukjoon Oh & Gyeong-Seok Choi & Hyoungsub Kim, 2023. "Climate-Adaptive Building Envelope Controls: Assessing the Impact on Building Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    8. Wu, Zhenghong & Zhang, Ling & Su, Xiaosong & Wu, Jing & Liu, Zhongbing, 2022. "Experimental and numerical analysis of naturally ventilated PV-DSF in a humid subtropical climate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 633-646.
    9. Li Zhu & Peng Wang & Yujiao Huo & Wei Tian & Yong Sun & Baoquan Yin, 2022. "Energy Savings Potential of Semitransparent Photovoltaic Skylights under Different Climate Conditions in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:3:p:763-:d:1333972. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.