Living Houses with an Energy-autonomy – Results of Monitoring

Storch, Thomas; Leukefeld, Timo; Fieback, Tobias; Groß, Ulrich

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2016.06.254

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Unfortunately, total solar collection was overestimated in design, so the system did not reach its design solar fraction of 70%, despite building heat and DHW loads also being overestimated. Storch et al (2016) details two occupied "energy autonomous" houses in Germany that were monitored starting 2014. The houses have the same design, but different occupancy: one is occupied by a five-person family, and the other is used as a Monday-to-Friday office building for 2-4 people.…”

Section: Seasonal Storage For Single-detached Housesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage in Buried Water Tanks for Single Detached Houses

Meister¹

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Seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) could allow solar energy to offset the majority of building energy loads in cold climates. This thesis outlines one of the first long-term, full-scale experimental studies on seasonal storage at the single-detached home scale. A solar thermal system couples a large evacuated tube solar array to both short term thermal storage tanks and a 36 m 3 buried water tank used for seasonal storage. Solar heat stored in these water tanks provides space heating (SH) and domestic hot water (DHW) to an energy-efficient two-storey research house in Ottawa, Canada. Long term experiments are described, including a one-year cycle of the system and long term heat loss monitoring. Results show that the as-built system can meet the majority of the building's SH and DHW loads, achieving a solar fraction of 68%. However, experiments revealed several areas of underperformance. Most prominently, faulty solar collectors limited the system's potential. To assess the true potential of the system, detailed energy models were developed and validated against experimental data. Simulated free of faults and underperforming components, the system has a predicted solar fraction of over 90%. Building simulation is further used to explore improved control and sizing of STES systems for single-detached homes. Control methods and decisions such as variable speed pumping, radiant floor supply temperature modulation, and storage setpoints are explored, among others. In regard to sizing, for the house under study, it is shown that solar fractions over 90% require relatively large (and potentially costly) STES tanks (>30 m 3 ). However, a moderately lower solar fraction of 70-80% may be obtained even with significantly smaller tanks (<10 m 3 ), provided an "oversized" solar thermal array is utilized, which may come at a significantly lower investment cost.Back in a simpler time, I sent Ian (or then, Prof. Beausoleil-Morrison) an email about grad school. He mentioned a little project with a water tank -sounded simple enough! Little did I know the next several years would be one of the most difficult and rewarding periods of my life. Ian, thank you for providing me with this opportunity, and for your patience, guidance and wisdom over these years.I'm lucky to work alongside an incredible group of people within SBES and the BPRC. Thanks to my lab mates, colleagues and friends for the coffee breaks, karaoke nights and games of Catan.

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Section: Seasonal Storage For Single-detached Housesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage in Buried Water Tanks for Single Detached Houses

Meister¹

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“…In addition, autonomy does not represent a main goal, particularly in CES when implementing improved (renewable) energy systems in neighborhoods (Protogeropoulos, Brinkworth, & Marschall, 1997). Nevertheless, several studies exist researching ways to develop completely energy-autonomous houses (Brosig & Waffenschmidt, 2016;Storch, Leukefeld, Fieback, & Gross, 2016) or (on a largerscale) islands (Kaldellis, Gkikaki, Kaldelli, & Kapsali, 2012). Although being completely autonomous is a technical challenge and trying to be independent from common supply system can oftentimes be economically inefficient, a general propensity towards autonomy can be identified among homeowners (Bracke et al, 2016;Klein, 1983).…”

Section: Conceptual Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The IAFOR International Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment – Hawaii 2021 Official Conference Proceedings

2021

IICSEE Official Conference Proceedings

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Despite extensive political funding programs, the energy consumption in Germany for space heating and hot water stagnated on a high level of 870 TWh over the past few years and even exceeded the level of 2010. To reduce consumption and meeting the energy-efficiency goals set by the German federal government, an option for private homeowners is to participate in community energy systems (CES). However, homeowners' reluctance to join CES constitutes a major issue. Recent research has not provided deeper insights into reasons for this hesitation. Focusing primarily on local district heating systems, we use two theoretical approaches, motivation and attribution theory, to shed light on drivers and barriers in the decision-making process of homeowners. To gain insights, an explorative research design was chosen, and 22 problem-centered interviews were conducted with homeowners as well as experts.Our results show that subjectively perceived energy autonomy can be a barrier for private homeowners to participate in CES. Furthermore, we find a discrepancy between objective energy autonomy, as defined from a technical perspective, and homeowners' perception. Regarding this, the two major aspects shaping homeowners' perception of energy autonomy are (1) perceived independence from third parties as well as other external influences, and (2) a sense of control over the home energy system and its costs. Our study provides new insights into the decision-making process of homeowners to participate in CES. Additionally, we identified several implications in how far practitioners can address subjectively perceived energy autonomy issues to reduce inertia to join CES.

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“…Another house in Rottenburg used a 1.9m 3 diurnal storage and a 30m 2 collector array with a 75-degree tilt, but did not reach its design solar fraction of 70%. [21]: Discussing two "energy autonomous" houses in Germany, this research reported similar space heating loads for a family home and a weekday office, both with 46m 2 solar arrays and 9.1m 3 hot water storage tanks. They achieved solar fractions of approximately 71% for combined space and hot water heating.…”

Section: Thomsen Et Al (2005) [18]mentioning

confidence: 84%

Experimental Results of a Solar Thermal System with Sensible Storage in a Single Family Residential House

Manser

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Solar thermal systems with diurnal and seasonal storage in residential buildings present a significant opportunity to satisfy space heating and domestic hot water heating loads and reduce fossil fuel consumption. This research focused on the operation and maintenance of a solar thermal system with sensible water-based diurnal and seasonal storage at the Centre for Home Energy Research (CHEeR) in Ottawa Ontario, Canada. A one year long experiment spanning from June 1, 2022, to June 1, 2023, was conducted to determine the solar thermal systems' effectiveness at supplying space and domestic hot water heating using stored solar thermal energy. The solar collection system consisted of a 41.6 m 2 array of high-performance heat pipe evacuated tube solar collectors. The diurnal storage that satisfied domestic hot water demands was a 450 L water tank in the basement of CHEeR. The seasonal thermal storage that served space heating demands via an in-floor radiant heating system was a 36 m 3 storage tank located underground adjacent to CHEeR. The solar thermal system supplied 81.0% of the domestic hot water loads and 87.5% of the space heating loads. Overall, when accounting for pump electrical energy consumption the system operated at a net overall solar fraction of 78.8%. i amazing support when something at CHEeR broke.To Rebecca, Curtis, and the rest of the team at CHEeR: Thank you for laying the foundation that this work has built upon.

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Living Houses with an Energy-autonomy – Results of Monitoring

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage in Buried Water Tanks for Single Detached Houses

Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage in Buried Water Tanks for Single Detached Houses

The IAFOR International Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment – Hawaii 2021 Official Conference Proceedings

Experimental Results of a Solar Thermal System with Sensible Storage in a Single Family Residential House

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