Barone, Giovanni
(2020)
Development and validation of simulation models for the energy performance assessment of innovative solar technologies and energy storage systems.
[Tesi di dottorato]
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the thermal behaviour of innovative solar technologies and energy storage systems. It focuses on solar systems able to produce thermal and/or electric energy to cover energy needs in the building sector (i.e. heating, cooling, dwelling hot water, electricity, etc.). The thesis includes the experimental and numerical investigation of several innovative technologies.
At first, two innovative solar thermal collectors with a vacuum space (adopted for insulating the absorber plate and avoiding convective heat losses), are presented. Here, both the design and the mathematical simulation model (developed in MatLab environment) of the two novel evacuated flat-plate solar thermal collector prototype are introduced. The first solar thermal collector is characterized by a very low initial cost, whereas the second one is characterized by high-vacuum space (i.e. 10-8 mbar) for dwelling hot water storage purposes.
The study is then focused on an innovative low-cost air-based photovoltaic/thermal collector prototype, for which a novel dynamic simulation model is suitably developed in order to investigate its energy performance and economic feasibility under different operating conditions. The prototype is tested under different operating conditions and the experimental data are used to validate the developed simulation model. A suitable case study in which the photovoltaic/thermal collectors are coupled to an air-to-air heat pump for space heating of a sample building, is also presented.
Thus, with the aim of investigating the passive effects of the integration into the building envelope of the above-mentioned solar technologies, the experimental validation of an in-house building simulation model, called DETECt, is presented. Here, with the use of a comparative analysis between numerical results and measurements obtained on a real test room, the experimental validation of the dynamic simulation model is presented.
Finally, the integration of air open-loop photovoltaic thermal systems on the façade of a high-rise buildings is analysed, with a special focus on their active and passive effects. The system energy performance and its impact on the building heating and cooling demands and electrical production are assessed through a dynamic simulation model suitably modified and linked into DETECt. In addition, with the aim of analysing the potentiality of electricity storage system, a novel energy management system for buildings connected in a micro-grid, by considering electric vehicles as active components of such energy scheme is also investigated.
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