Madrid, Spain

Madrid (Spain)

Demo responsible: Empresa Municipal de la Vivienda y Suelo de Madrid SA (EMVS) and Veolia (VEO)

Type of building: Large residential. It consists of a social housing apartment block, envelope under retrofit. In particular, there are a total of 10 flats with a ground floor and 4 floors (1072 m2) near the town centre of Madrid.

Solar energy potential: 62 m2 with 50m² of DualSun PVT panels on the roof. The existing individual appliances per flat were a gas boiler supply of domestic hot water (DHW) and space heating through a radiator circuit and air/air split for cooling. Yearly thermal demand estimation after envelope retrofit: 13 MWh DHW, 18 MWh electricity, 60 MWh space heating, 4 MWh cooling.

In technical words:

35.5SH/83.8SC/5.5DHW MWh demand :

  • 50 m² DualSun PVT panels
  • 1.0SC/SH / 1.3DHW m3 RATIOTHERM tank
  • Reversible HP 9BW/27AW kW BDR Thermea
  • fsav,GHG = 54-70%, 37% cost savings

Demonstration action:

  • TP4, Parallel integration of a reversible BDR Thermea heat pump for space heating and cooling, and domestic hot water; Thermal output from the DualSun solar hybrid PV-T to cover the heat demand and to assist the BoostHEAT evaporator; and of the DualSun PV-T electricity production to cover building appliances electricity consumption
  • Installation of solar panels and heat pumps’ outdoor fan coil units on the flat roof and connections to the technical room
  • Installation of a heat pump indoor unit and of a 1.0 SHC / 1.3DHW m3 RATIOTHERM tank either in a box on the roof or technical room on the ground floor
  • Redesign centralized space heating, cooling and domestic hot water distribution system for 10 flats
  • Integrated control system for the smart operation of H&C and electrical systems
  • Improved performance on space heating and domestic hot water through heat supply by solar hybrid PV-T (DUALSUN) and thermal energy storage (RATIOTHERM) and reversible heat pump 9BW/27AW kW BDR Thermea
  • Improved self-consumption of electricity from solar hybrid PVT (DUALSUN) by the reversible electric heat pump in the heating and cooling season (BDR) and specific electricity demand of the building

Replicability potential:

  • New and renovated buildings: large residential and tertiary
  • Sunny climates

Technical risks:

  • Very limited risk in coupling both innovations (i.e., reversible heat pump and solar hybrid PV-T)

Difficulties encountered:

  • Roof reinforcement requirements
  • Limited door, stairway and basement room dimensions for component handling and installation
  • Roof integration was successfully installed, but due to local regulations, a small structure was needed on the parapet. This is because the height of the structure was overpassing the regulation limit
  • Lack of experience and knowledge in executing high complexity systems, especially associated with hydraulics and communication and controls
  • Passing from individualized to centralized energy systems, required to modify the power electric supply installation to the building. Legalization of the electric system and therefore the process of Contracting an increase of power required for the commissioning
  • Legalization of the self-consumption took longer than expected

Estimated savings and expected impact:

  • 76% of primary energy savings
  • 84% of cost savings
  • 37% of self-consumption ratio from PV

Lessons learnt:

  • PVT panels with polypropylene caused a variation of pressure in the commissioning that affected the installation
  • The brine-water heat pump coupled with PVT has not been run yet due to a difference of pressure between tech. Room downstairs and upstairs
  • The air-to-water heat pump is able to supply all demands: heating (winter), cooling (summer), domestic hot water
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