On the Use of Agent-Based Simulation for Efficiency Analysis of Domestic Heating Using Photovoltaic Solar Energy Production Combined with a Heatpump

Abstract

In this paper agent-based simulation is used to analyse the efficiency of domestic heating based on a heatpump together with photovoltaic (PV) solar energy production. A simulation model for the cost (in terms of required kWh per day) of a heating agent based on a heatpump over a year is used, in addition to a simulation model for the yields of a PV production agent estimating the produced solar energy (in kWh per day). In particular, for the heating agent it is analysed how its performance depends on the outdoor temperature, and for the PV-installation agent how the yields depend on irradiation. Based on empirical temperature and irradiation data over a year it is found out which fraction of the energy required per year for heating can be covered by the yields of the PV installation.

Agent-Based Analysis of Annual Energy Usages for Domestic Heating based on a Heat Pump

“…Here T water is the heating system water temperature. The values of the parameters (i.e., the 7.5 and 0.1) in this approximation are in accordance with empirical data from www.liveheatpump.com (see also [10,18]). For example, based on this function for T water = 50°C it holds:…”

“…Here the main agent considered is the (heat pump based) heating agent, and the main focus is on its ongoing interaction with the (strongly dynamical) environment. Other agents that play their role are energy production agents (e.g., based on a photovoltaic solar energy production system; e.g., [10]) and a thermostat agent.…”

“…Given its strong dependence on the outdoor temperature, SPF can be approximated by a mathematical function of the outdoor temperature T od . For this paper a linear approximation is used (adopted from [10,17]):…”

“…Here T od (t) is the outdoor temperature at time t, T id (t) is the indoor temperature at time t, and T id_avg is the average indoor temperature over a 24 hour, and ε is the energy loss per degree day (summation of individual deviations between the outdoor temperature T od and a given indoor temperature T id_avg in each time step over a 24 hours). The energy usage can be calculated from the energy demand tmed and SPF by equation 4; see also [10,18]. By averaging over the day, with T od_avg the average day temperature, this povides the energy usage for that day:…”

Analysis of Electricity Usage for Domestic Heating Based on an Air-to-Water Heat Pump in a Real World Context

“…In general, SPF is approximated by a mathematical function of the outdoor temperature T od . Often a linear approximation is used; (e.g., [15,16]), and the SPF for a given day is based on the average day temperature. For this paper the following new steps are made:…”