A testing and demonstration facility for PV systems and components

A test and demonstration facility for PV and PV hybrid systems and system components has been designed and installed at Dalarna University in Sweden. The facility allows studies of complete PV systems or single components in a range of 0.1-10 kW. The facility includes two grid-connected PV systems, a PV Hybrid off-grid system, three emulators and the necessary measurement and control equipment. Tests can be done manually or automatically through programmed test procedures controlled that will be implemented in Labview. The facility shall be used by researchers, professionals of the industry and engineering students.

Using locally available components and local knowledge to build sustainable stand-alone power systems

The aim of this paper is to point out benefits as well as disadvantages associated with the use of locally available, not necessarily standardized, components in stand-alone electrical power systems at rural locations. Advantages and challenges arising when the direct involvement in design, construction and maintenance of the power system is reserved to people based in the area of implementation are discussed. The presented research is centered around one particular PV-diesel hybrid system in Tanzania; a case study in which technical and social aspects related to the particular power system are studied.

Survery and simulation of energy use in the European building stock

the work towards increased energy efficiency. In order to plan and perform effective energy renovation of the buildings, it is necessary to have adequate information on the current status of the buildings in terms of architectural features and energy needs. Unfortunately, the official statistics do not include all of the needed information for the whole building stock.   This paper aims to fill the gaps in the statistics by gathering data from studies, projects and national energy agencies, and by calibrating TRNSYS models against the existing data to complete missing energy demand data, for countries with similar climate, through simulation. The survey was limited to residential and office buildings in the EU member states (before July 2013). This work was carried out as part of the EU FP7 project iNSPiRe.   The building stock survey revealed over 70% of the residential and office floor area is concentrated in the six most populated countries. The total energy consumption in the residential sector is 14 times that of the office sector. In the residential sector, single family houses represent 60% of the heated floor area, albeit with different share in the different countries, indicating that retrofit solutions cannot be focused only on multi-family houses.   The simulation results indicate that residential buildings in central and southern European countries are not always heated to 20 °C, but are kept at a lower temperature during at least part of the day. Improving the energy performance of these houses through renovation could allow the occupants to increase the room temperature and improve their thermal comfort, even though the potential for energy savings would then be reduced.