Hardware-in-the-Loop Platform for Performance Evaluation of Energy Production, Storage and Distribution Systems for Buildings

The current study carried out within the framework of the PEPSE (Semi-virtual Platform for performance Evaluation of Energy Production, Storage and distribution systems for buildings) project aims at designing, developing and setting up the infrastructure and the equipment of a laboratory for evaluating the energy performance of heating and cooling production, storage and distribution systems in buildings. The platform is semi-virtual, i.e. energy sources and loads can be real or simulated. The virtual environment (which is a numerical program for simulating energy sources and loads) controls the inlet conditions and the operation of tested device by means of one or several satellite units (i.e. physical interfaces) located on the distribution and return lines of the hydraulic/air-flow loops. The equipment outlet conditions are also sent back towards the simulation program by these interfaces. The latter are supplied with hot and cold water by two energy production and distribution systems. The maximum power of devices to be tested could be up to 200 kW (heating or cooling). This capacity allows the laboratory to test a relatively wide range of devices from the heating or cooling appliances of a single-family house to the energy equipment/system of multi-family residential building or the equipment for district heating system, etc.