s.ky blue information
The Solar Decathlon is a project of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in partnership with DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Systems Integration: 8#
The s.ky blue house contains many systems that allow it to create, store and optimize energy. Our systems integration approach seeks to optimally combine the separate systems of the home, seamlessly integrating them into the design, and offering solutions that would allow homeowners to decide whether to store or use energy. The house’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, or HVAC system, is designed to meet or exceed the Solar Decathlon heating and cooling demands by using a high-efficiency reversed cycle chiller, coupled with a small thermal tank to provide hot water for floor heating and cold water for air conditioning and dehumidification.
Our main method of harvesting energy is through multiple PV and solar panels situated on the exterior of our house. The amount of electrical generation is registered through net metering. The harvested thermal energy is stored in water tanks that are located both inside and outside of the house.The house has multiple storage systems that allow the operating system to decide which storage tank is best to use. One tank stores energy for domestic hot water, the other stores hot water for the HVAC system. The integration system also decides which heating method would most efficiently heat the domestic hot water.
The main focus of our energy storage system is the optimization of energy collection and distribution. This system has the ability to convey environmental conditions of the home as well as demonstrate how energy is being used within it. It also has the ability to show how much energy is being harvested and used by each circuit within the house and inform the owners on what decisions to make to optimize energy performance.
