Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for Renewable ... - EGEC

7Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for Renewable Heating & CoolingEnabling technologyRenewableHeating & CoolingEuropean Technology PlatformThis chapter looks at two key areas to enable the achievement of the full potential of RHC: bydeveloping targeted ICT support tools, and through research in materials science.7.1 Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT)As heating and cooling technologies become more intelligent, the flexibility availableto the energy system is increased and the associated costs lowered. Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) plays an increasing role in reducing the energy intensity of ourapplications, therefore enabling renewable heating and cooling systems to satisfya higher share of the energy demand.By monitoring and directly managing energy consumption, ICT can enable efficiencyimprovements in all applications which require a thermal energy supply. Some studiessuggest that this capacity can be exploited to reduce energy consumption of buildings in theEU by up to 17%. 74 ICT can also address the complexity of measuring energy performanceat a system level 75 : Software tools can provide information and data on howto better configure the various elements of a system so as to optimise its overall energyperformance in a cost-effective manner. Applications of these ICT tools spread from smallerto more complex, large-scale systems such as urban areas and cities.ICT developments enabling advancements in controls and performanceassessment of RHC systemsWithin the next decade, heating and cooling systems will become increasingly integrated.Smarter meters will be at the centre of the integrated solutions, including interaction withother networks (ICT, electricity, water, etc.). Smart meters are expected to facilitate this interactionby collecting data from all the different networks. At the same time, users andinstallers will demand that the interaction with technology is simplified. This requires largeadvancements in design monitoring, control, performance analysis, remote maintenance,output control, and certification of heating and cooling systems. Information should be madeavailable in different forms and different levels of detail to multiple communities; operatorsand utilities require accurate technical data to control their systems, while consumers needto be informed about their energy consumption, the available energy sources and the relatedcosts. Such information should be presented in an easy and intuitive form allowing nonspecialists to make informed choices. All these improvements will need to be highly reliablewithout significantly increasing the total cost of the systemsAll newly introduced energy subsystems require supervision to understand and assess theperformance of the overall system. Biomass unit operation should be optimised through theapplication of fuel quality monitoring and on-line process monitoring; new on-linesensors and dashboards are required to monitor combustion units and their integration withother components (from energy storage to the heating and cooling distribution network).Different types of combustion process models should be developed and validated based ona common methodology.74[GeSI 2008] Bio IntelligenceImpacts of Information andCommunication Technologieson Energy Efficiency. Smart2020 Enabling the low-carboneconomy in the informationage.75For consistency with thewording of the EuropeanCommission [EC 2009] -COM(111), in this contexta system consists of manyenergy consuming entities.Examples include datacentres, buildings, factoriesand cities.There is the need to work on advanced control algorithms and integration into wholeHVAC system controls, which are necessary to improve performance. These advancedalgorithms can also relate to design performance validation, or to advanced online performancecontrol and maintenance activities. Furthermore, installation cost reductions and controlsystems’ operation are important aspects to be improved.Accurate and pervasive monitoring is also a key element to perform predictive andoptimized maintenance. For solar thermal technology, by analysing the behaviour of systemsoperating under particular conditions, it is possible to quickly detect possible malfunctioningand to alert the end-user or service company. The performance guarantee of solar thermalsystems is expected to improve thanks to technical progress and ICT development.73