Software Toolbox for Intelligent Energy Management and System Optimization

Abstract:
This paper presents a software toolbox for intelligent energy management and system optimization. The main goal is to help planners and engineers to model, simulate, and compare different energy supply scenarios. The toolbox uses greybox models to represent components such as heat pumps, combined heat and power plants (CHP), photovoltaic panels, and energy storages. It works in three layers: device models, operation strategy, and energy management. As a use case, an example cleanroom at Fraunhofer IISB is modeled with various energy supply scenarios (CHP, PV, and public grid, district heat). The annual energy consumption and CO2 emissions for each case are compared for each scenario. The results show that using a CHP plant reduces CO2 emissions and imported energy more than adding solar energy alone. The best results appear when local supply and storage are combined. In conclusion, the modular design of the toolbox makes it easy to change system parameters, run fast simulations, and support decision making. Future work will add adaptive control and intelligent energy management to improve energy use and reduce emissions even more.