Monolith

In the project a hybrid solar thermal collector and an air heat pump is combined in an external “heat unit” housing. The collector can operate either air or water driven. To gain an energy efficient operation of the system, a simulation based rapid-prototyping including mathematical optimization methods are used to design an overall working control scheme.

The combination of solar thermal collectors and heat pumps for room and water heating in single-family dwellings and apartment buildings is hardly represented on the market because of its high costs. If there are combined systems offered, they work without exploitation of any synergy effects.

In this project the combination of a hybrid collector (water and air as heat carrier) with an air heat pump will be presented, where a overall control concept is used. Components from former projects will be adapted for the given application and combined to an overall system.
A common method in most industries is the development of closed-loop control systems with simulation based rapid-prototyping. In the project mathematical modelling of the system components will be used and validated with realized measurements. Based on the simulation model an energy optimized controller can be found. A long time measurement will verify the results.
As a result a measured and optimized system as a starting point for a small batch series will be gained.