Smart thermal grid with integration of distributed and centralized solar energy systems

Libing Yang, Evgueniy Entchev, Antonio Rosato and Sergio Sibilio

Energy, 2017, vol. 122, issue C, 471-481

Abstract: Smart thermal grids (STGs) are able to perform the same function as classical grids, but are developed in order to make better use of distributed, possibly intermittent, thermal energy resources and to provide the required energy when needed through efficient resources utilization and intelligent management. District heating (DH) plays a significant role in the implementation of future smart energy systems. To fulfil its role, DH technologies must be further developed to integrate renewable resources, create low-temperature networks, and consequently to make existing or new DH networks ready for integration into future STGs. Solar heating is a promising option for low-temperature DH systems. Thermal energy storage (TES) can make the availability of the energy supply match the demand. An integration of centralized seasonal and distributed short-term thermal storages would facilitate an efficient recovery of the solar energy. This study, through modelling and simulation, investigates the impacts of such integration on the overall performance of a community-level solar DH system. The performance analysis results show that the solar DH system with integration of distributed and centralized seasonal TESs improves system overall efficiency, and reduces DH network heat losses, primary energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, in comparison to the one without integration.

Keywords: Smart thermal grid; Solar district heating system; Distributed thermal storage; Seasonal thermal storage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217301214
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:122:y:2017:i:c:p:471-481

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.01.114

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().