Zero Energy Building initiative by TPS – HEART Project

Zero Energy Building initiative by TPS – HEART Project
TPS is developing innovative and energy efficient solutions for your home by entering into a consortium agreement under the EU research programme Horizon 2020 (H2020). The aim is to deliver Holistic Energy and Architecture Retrofit Toolkit (HEART) for residential buildings.

Through HEART, TPS will create and deliver an optimised DC-bus based residential microgrid. It utilises a multi-port converter to interconnect solar roof tiles, battery energy storage, DC modular heat pumps and all other residential DC based energy assets.

Adding the microgrid will result into an efficient and optimised design that can be retrofit to improve the energy efficiency of residential buildings. This is a major leap towards Zero or Nearly Zero Energy Building (ZEB or nZEB respectively) initiatives to reduce carbon emissions of the residential sector by 80% by 2050.

The DC-bus based microgrid will also be interconnected to the distribution system operator (DSO) or services aggregator through a power line communication interface. This provides a secure connection to a Smart Grid platform and facilitates the contribution of the residential buildings to Demand Side Response (DSR) Schemes.

TPS will develop control algorithms that will ensure the resilience of the buildings’ energy supply for both heat and power, while tapping into other Smart Grid schemes to provide a stack of benefits to the building manager and the DSO.

In the UK, carbon emissions from buildings and industry account for two thirds of the total emissions with the residential sector emissions, accounting for the largest share. There is a governmental and regulatory push towards a smarter energy system through facilitating DSR and its access to the balancing and wholesale power market to achieve our carbon emission reduction target.