Researchers in Italy found that combining demand response, thermal storage, insulation, and PV-battery systems can significantly improve building energy performance. The optimized strategy increased comfort compliance to 81.22% and reduced electricity consumption by up to 28.22%, with PV-battery integration boosting grid savings by nearly 60%.
Researchers from Italy’s University of Palermo have developed a model to assess the performance of buildings equipped with heat pumps and PV systems under different demand response (DR) strategies. The buildings were evaluated by adjusting electricity consumption in response to external signals, including energy prices and grid constraints.
“The analysis considers a price-based approach, defined according to Italy’s wholesale electricity market Prezzo Unico Nazionale (PUN), and a PV-driven DR program aimed at improving the integration of variable renewable energy sources,” the researchers said. “Their impacts on energy consumption and occupant comfort are assessed across daily and annual timescales.”
The team first modeled a poorly insulated three-story office building with a conditioned floor area of 4,982.2 m², 18 thermal zones, a window-to-wall ratio of 33%, 652.87 m² of glazing, and 1,977.92 m² of gross wall area. The building was equipped with a reversible air-to-water heat pump, a thermal energy storage (TES) tank, a hydronic distribution system with circulation pumps, mixing and diverting valves, piping, and fan-coil units. In some scenarios, the system also included a PV-battery (PV-B) configuration.
