An Open-Source Virtual Testbed for a Real Net-Zero Energy Community

Huang, Sen; Wang, Jing; Zuo, Wangda; Hinkelman, Kathryn; Kaiser, Raymond M.; He, Dong; Vrabie, Draguna

doi:10.1016/j.scs.2021.103255

An Open-Source Virtual Testbed for a Real Net-Zero Energy Community

Journal Article · 13 August 2021 · Sustainable Cities and Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103255· OSTI ID:1821410

Huang, Sen; Wang, Jing; ; Hinkelman, Kathryn; Kaiser, Raymond M.; He, Dong; Vrabie, Draguna

Net-Zero Energy Communities (NZECs) are critical to assuring the sustainability and resilience of modernized power systems. System modeling helps overcome technical challenges in designing and operating NZECs. In this paper, we present an open-source NZEC virtual testbed in Modelica based on a real NZEC in Florida, USA. This testbed consists of two sets of models: (1) higher-fidelity physics-based models that consider the interaction between subsystems of the studied NZEC and capture fast dynamics, and (2) lower-fidelity data-driven models that require fewer resources to establish and/or run. All models are validated against measurements from this real NZEC. In addition, this testbed includes a simulation framework that streamlines the processes for simulation and thus allows the use of developed models to form a virtual testbed. To demonstrate the usage of the virtual testbed, a case study is conducted where a building-to-grid integration control is evaluated via simulation. The evaluation results suggest that the tested control significantly smooths the power draw of the studied community and does not sacrifice thermal comfort to a great extent.

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office

DOE Contract Number:: DE-AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1821410

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5500-80960; MainId:78738; UUID:56f55d80-9ada-4a60-863f-e10615548330; MainAdminID:61819

Journal Information:: Sustainable Cities and Society, Vol. 75

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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30 EE - Building Technologies Office (EE-5B)
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