Developing a software tool for discovery, sizing and sales of thermal energy storage systems

Problem Statement: Electricity demand to meet thermal loads in buildings is expected to grow due to an increase in cooling degree days and the trend towards electrification of space heating to take advantage of renewable energy sources. The rapid growth in electricity demand for building space conditioning poses significant problems for infrastructure and for decarbonizing the economy. Thermal-energy storage (TES) technology offers an effective and efficient pathway to reduce peak demand. However, residential and small -to-medium commercial TES integration is hampered by the lack of understanding of those systems’ costs and benefits and how to select and size them appropriately. Solution: The proposed project focuses on increasing the rate of commercialization of TES by developing a simple and flexible design and savings analysis tool to allow the comparison of a range of available and proposed TES systems in combination with heat pumps. The tool will model the load shifting capabilities of a variety of TES sizes and configurations from smaller peak shaving applications to larger deployments capable of eliminating peak period HVAC loads and providing resilience during power disruptions. OptiMiser’s nimble platform will be able to adapt and showcase the rapid evolution of TES. Phase I: DOE funding will allow OptiMiser, LLC to develop an approachable software tool that provides a simple analysis of the benefits of TES integrated heating/cooling systems in residential and small-to-medium commercial buildings. The tool will be designed with a flexible input approach that can be used both as a discovery tool for building owners/operators and as a sizing and sales tool by HVAC installers without requiring deep expertise in TES technology. It will provide economic analysis allowing users to identify the best system size to balance upfront costs against long term savings from efficiency gains and load shifting that takes advantage of TOU electric rates. Application and Benefits: Low-cost, long-life, high-efficiency TES can contribute to load shifting that is critical for greater integration of renewable energy and the transition away from fossil fuels. TES can shift electrical load from peak to off-peak hours, making buildings smart grid-ready by making equipment more demand responsive. The proposed TES software will act as a consumer education tool addressing the barrier of complex TES sale selection by communicating TES value to key players. Simplified modeling will remove TES deployment barriers. The levelized cost of storage analysis produced can be used by researchers to identify cost targets required to enable successful TES technology commercialization.