This package provides a powerful simulation toolkit for thermal engineering plants such as power plants, district heating systems or heat pumps.

Most of the talk about renewable energy is aimed at electricity production. However, most of the energy we need is heat, which solar panels and wind turbines cannot produce efficiently. To power industrial processes like the making of chemicals, the smelting of metals or the production of microchips, we need a renewable source of thermal energy. Direct use of solar energy can be the solution, and it creates the possibility to produce renewable energy plants using only renewable energy plants, paving the way for a truly sustainable industrial civilization.

This paper investigates heat pump systems in smart grids, focussing on fields of application and control approaches that have emerged in academic literature. Based on a review of published literature technical aspects of heat pump flexibility, fields of application and control approaches are structured and discussed. Three main categories of applications using heat pumps in a smart grid context have been identified: First stable and economic operation of power grids, second the integration of renewable energy sources and third operation under variable electricity prices. In all fields heat pumps - when controlled in an appropriate manner - can help easing the transition to a decentralized energy system accompanied by a higher share of prosumers and renewable energy sources. Predictive controls are successfully used in the majority of studies, often assuming idealized conditions. Topics for future research have been identified including: a transfer of control approaches from simulation to the field, a detailed techno-economic analysis of heat pump systems under smart grid operation, and the design of heat pump systems in order to increase flexibility are among the future research topics suggested.

IEEE Xplore. Delivering full text access to the world's highest quality technical literature in engineering and technology.

IEEE Xplore. Delivering full text access to the world's highest quality technical literature in engineering and technology.

AIM's main objective is to foster a harmonised technology for profiling and managing the energy consumption of appliances at home. AIM will introduce energy monitoring and management mechanisms in the home network and will provide a proper service creation environment to serve virtualisation of energy consumption, with the final aim of offering users a number of standalone and operator services.

EnergyWarden has concluded its project lifetime on June 30, 2013 and has now entered its result exploitation phase!

This site, besides concise project related information (objectives, partners) provides access details and information with regard to all key public project results, i.e., the state of the art EW Simulator and the EW Policy tools. Result information includes promotional publications, video developments, scientific papers. The site also provides information as to the new business set-up that has resulted from EnergyWarden