ES2895428B2 - ACCUMULATION HEATING EQUIPMENT THAT TAKES USE OF SURPLUS ELECTRICAL ENERGY PRODUCED IN SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATIONS AND THE SURPLUS CONTROL PROCEDURE - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

ACCUMULATION HEATING EQUIPMENT THAT TAKES USE OF SURPLUS ELECTRICAL ENERGY PRODUCED IN SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATIONS AND THE SURPLUS CONTROL PROCEDURE

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses storage heating equipment that takes advantage of the surplus electrical energy from a domestic solar installation to be used by means of a series of electrical resistances that, through the Joule effect, transform the surplus electrical energy into thermal energy and a heating procedure. control that allows the surplus of electrical energy to be distributed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Early approaches to grid-independent power supply use power converters, such as solar cells or thermal generators, or thermal converters. The prerequisite for this is always the presence of the form of energy to be converted, such as light, or heat, which in turn depends on the application and the environment. This severely limits the application area of such alternative energy converters. The coverage of the energy required for completely self-sufficient operation by such a power converter is unknown. Depending on the energy consumption and the application environment, the power supply system must always be resized and optimized, so that surplus electrical energy can be used.

Currently, there are systems capable of taking advantage of surplus renewable electricity production by storing the excess charge and then distributing it, as can be seen in the German patent application DE20220148U1, which discloses a mobile energy storage and supply device that exclusively converts energy from primary natural energy sources, such as solar energy and/or kinetic energy of the human body, into stored energy and supplies it to energy consumers, which is characterized in that the energy sources through an energy storage The central unit and the control unit that controls the power supply are connected to at least one mechanical energy storage device that serves as the main energy storage device.

One of the disadvantages of these energy storage devices is that the energy reservoirs are not interchanged or replaced for compatibility reasons, which differ considerably in their capacity, volume and shape. Furthermore, the connection options of currently known energy accumulators are extremely different, so that due to the diversity of these connection options, there is no compatibility with each other.

In the state of the art there are control systems capable of managing the power consumed by an electrical resistance with the aim of adjusting electrical consumption to production in real time, so that overconsumption of the thermal production system is avoided. Home energy management systems efficiently represent the use of electrical energy in home appliances, these home energy management systems can connect to various power supply devices or energy consuming devices in the home to monitor the power supply status and power consumption status and thereby control the operation of each of the devices according to the monitored results. In recent years, the diffusion of a photovoltaic (PV) module has been expanding. Since the energy supplied from the photovoltaic module is effective in terms of reducing the electricity bill because a separate electrical load is not generated. In addition, income can be generated by selling at least part of the energy supplied from the photovoltaic module to another person or to the electrical installation. However, in the case of the current home energy management system, the usage information of the energy supplied from the PV module is not intuitively provided to the user. Therefore, the user may not clearly appreciate the benefit of using the energy generated by the PV module and the maximum benefit may be provided depending on the sensation result.

The Spanish patent ES2635647 reveals a system for using surplus electrical energy from an installation with renewable electricity generation, where said system comprises a heat pump with at least one modulating compressor configured to adjust the power consumed based on a production setpoint. ; a control unit configured to: monitor the energy balance between the electrical grid and an electrical installation with a renewable production system; determine, based on said energy balance and at least one surplus control limit, whether to enable the surplus energy regulation; calculate a surplus production setpoint that includes at least one operating parameter of the heat pump to adjust the energy balance of the electrical installation with the electrical network according to a certain energy balance setpoint; sending the surplus production setpoint to the heat pump, where the means for measuring the energy exchange between the electrical network and the electrical installation include a bidirectional energy meter; where the control unit is configured to monitor the energy balance from the measurements received from the bidirectional energy meter.

The present invention differs from document ES2635647, in that the accumulator equipment does not incorporate a heat pump, since it can accumulate and distribute energy by converting it to heat by incorporating a plurality of electrical resistances inside, which Through the Joule effect, they transform the excess electrical energy into thermal energy, which is why it also incorporates a core of dense material with high specific heat that surrounds said resistances and where the thermal energy obtained is accumulated, thus avoiding the exchange of heat with the abroad. In addition, it has a procedure for controlling excess energy, which includes the firmware that governs the electronic circuits of the equipment and a control software that consists of a part that interacts with the user and another that processes the input. For all of the above, the present invention optimally resolves the profitability of surplus electrical energy for a domestic solar installation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that is being made and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, in accordance with a preferred example of the practical implementation thereof, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description. where, for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following has been represented:

Figure 1.- shows a schematic view of a typical domestic photovoltaic solar installation.

Figure 2.-shows a schematic view of the heating equipment by accumulating the surplus electrical energy produced.

Figure 3.- shows a schematic view of the storage heating equipment applied to a domestic photovoltaic solar installation, where the new arrangement can be seen with the incorporation of a bidirectional electric power and energy meter (8) and alternatively two power meters and energy (8') and (8''), providing extra information to the control procedure.

Figures 4.- shows a schematic view of the communication with the Internet (50) through the components necessary to communicate bidirectionally via radio frequency with a domestic type router (40), in turn showing the bidirectional power and energy meter (8 ) and the power and energy meters (8') and (8''), sending information via the Internet (50).

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Solar energy has become the best alternative to save on the electricity bill, so the installation of solar panels is essential to enjoy this clean and free energy in a single-family home, community of neighbors or company. This energy produced by solar panels can be used in the same way as the energy we obtain from the electrical grid, allowing its use for both household appliances and home automation and for air conditioning systems such as boilers or air conditioners.

Solar panels are made up of photovoltaic cells made of semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide or crystalline silicon, which allow solar energy to be transformed into electrical energy. This energy conversion occurs thanks to the photovoltaic effect, by which an electron passes from the negatively charged cell of the panel to another with a positive charge, generating a continuous electric current. Therefore, the amount of solar energy transformed is directly proportional to the size of the photovoltaic module, so if we need more energy, we only have to install a larger surface area of photovoltaic cells.

This energy produced in direct current will pass through a solar inverter where its frequency and intensity is adapted, transforming it into alternating current, and enabling said electrical energy for domestic use. Once we have this energy, we will use the necessary part for self-consumption, while the excess energy, known as surplus energy, can be used in the following ways: store said energy using batteries, pour said excess into the network in order to obtain compensation, or not using these surpluses, discarding them through an anti-dumping system.

The simplified compensation of surplus energy is the process that allows surplus solar energy to be sold automatically, simply and free of charge. The sale price of the surplus is approximately $0.05/kWh and the total monthly sale price of these surpluses can never be higher than the price paid for the energy consumed. However, it should be noted that energy compensation does not It is a net balance, in which the energy used is compensated and not the price paid for it. Therefore, with the price of the energy sold being less than half the price of the energy purchased, more than double the energy used from the network must be sold if we want to minimize our electricity bill, this makes it more profitable to use surplus energy for domestic benefit.

The present invention reveals a storage heating device that takes advantage of the surplus electrical energy coming from a domestic solar installation to be used in said heating devices by means of a series of electrical resistances that, through the Joule effect, transform the surplus electrical energy into thermal energy.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A typical domestic photovoltaic solar installation consists of the following elements: photovoltaic panels (20) that transform the solar radiation they receive into electrical energy; at least one electronic inverter (30) that transforms the direct current generated by the photovoltaic panels into alternating current for domestic use; means of distribution and transportation of electrical energy, in the case of solar installations connected to the electrical network (60). The energy produced is used for the operation of domestic equipment (9) that uses the energy generated by the solar installation or, In case this energy is not sufficient, the installation can also be connected to the electrical network (60) (Figure 1).

The present embodiment reveals storage heating equipment (10) for a domestic solar installation, where each heating equipment (10) comprises an envelope (4) that incorporates inside a plurality of electrical resistances (1) that, through the Joule effect, transform the excess electrical energy into thermal energy, a core (2) of dense material with high specific heat that surrounds said resistances (1) and where the thermal energy obtained is accumulated, a thermal insulation (3) that surrounds the core (2 ) and reduces thermal transmission between the core (2) and the outside; at least one dialogue device with the user (5); a module that incorporates the electronic circuits (6); and a temperature probe (7) that provides the ability to act as a room thermostat. (Figure 2)

When the accumulation heating equipment is connected for a domestic solar installation, a procedure for controlling the excess energy is required, which includes the firmware that governs the electronic circuits (6) of the equipment (10) and control software that It consists of a part that interacts with the user and another that processes the input.

When one or more storage heating devices (10) such as those described in the present invention are connected to a domestic solar installation, an arrangement equivalent to that represented in Figure 3 will result, where at least one power meter has been incorporated and bidirectional electrical energy (8) that is used to provide information to the control procedure. Alternatively, a combination of two power and energy meters (8') and (8'') can be used, providing extra information to the control procedure.

The storage heating equipment (10) will take advantage of all or part of the surplus energy produced by the solar installation, subsequently returning that energy in the form of heat.

The control software will be a specific computer application that will allow the equipment (10) to be controlled from a mobile device or a personal computer. To this end, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the electronic circuits (6) of the storage heating equipment (10) that take advantage of the solar surpluses, incorporate the necessary components to communicate bidirectionally by radio frequency with a router (40) of type home that in turn will be connected to the Internet (50) (Figure 4).

The bidirectional power and energy meter (8) or in the case of using a double meter, the power and energy meters (8') and (8''), also send information by radio frequency to the same router (40) destined for the control software.

The accumulation heating equipment (10) that takes advantage of the solar surpluses will be of different sizes, constituting a range that will allow rooms of different sizes to be heated by choosing the most appropriate model. Each model presents different combinations of electric heating resistances (1) in size or number.

The different electrical heating resistances (1) of the equipment may be connected independently or in groups through the use of mechanical or electronic connection devices.

These devices will act dependent on the control software that will follow the control algorithm described below:

Net Power of the Installation (PNETA) is defined as: The power recorded by the bidirectional power and energy meter (8) or, in the case of using a double meter, as the difference between the power meter and energy of solar origin (8') and the power and energy meter for the entire home (8”).

PNET may be greater than, less than or equal to zero.

Connected Power (PCON) is defined as the sum of the powers of the electrical heating resistances (1) of the equipment that are connected at a given time.

Total available power (PTOTAL) is defined as:

PTOTAL= PNETA+ PCON

The control procedure will calculate the access and power level to each of the equipment based on PTOTAL.

Every time a period of time elapses, the duration of which corresponds to a parameterizable value, the algorithm checks the value of PTOTALy, depending on said value it will perform one of the following two actions:

A) If PTOTAL≥ 0, it is considered that there is a surplus of energy of solar origin, and the connection priority of each of the heating resistors (1) of the equipment (10) is calculated.

A priority list is made for the heating resistances (1) of the equipment (10) that will take into account the priority value assigned to each equipment (10) by the user during installation and will be affected by the difference between the temperature of setpoint of each equipment (10) acting as a room thermostat and the temperature that is measured by the temperature probe (7) in the place where it is installed; and the resistors (1) on the list are connected in order of priority until the available PTOTAL is completed.

B) If PTOTAL < 0 all the heating resistances (1) of the equipment (10) will be disconnected

Claims (1)

1. Storage heating equipment that is connected to the home's domestic AC network like any other appliance that takes advantage of the surplus electrical energy produced in photovoltaic solar installations, where each equipment (10) comprises an enclosure (4) that incorporates its interior a plurality of electrical resistances of fixed power (1) that transform the surplus of electrical energy into thermal energy, a core (2) of dense material with high specific heat that surrounds said resistances (1) where the thermal energy obtained is accumulated. , a thermal insulation (3) that surrounds the core (2) and reduces thermal transmission between the core (2) and the outside; at least one dialogue device with the user (5); a module that incorporates the electronic circuits (6); and a temperature probe (7) that provides the ability to act as a room thermostat, which is characterized because they are managed by a surplus energy control procedure, which includes the firmware that governs the electronic circuits (6) of the equipment (10). , at least one electronic bidirectional electrical energy and power meter (8) that records the total energy consumption or export of the home and a domestic type router (40) connected to the Internet (50), which communicates by radio frequency with both the electronic control of the bidirectional meter to send and receive information on the instantaneous consumption of the home as well as the electronic controls of storage heating equipment to receive information on the connection status of each of its resistances, the temperature demand of the equipment and the connection priority assigned by the user, in whose electronics (that of the router) the control algorithm is integrated and programmed that: - Based on the information from the bidirectional meter (8) and the information provided by the heating equipment (10) in relation to the connection status of its resistances, it calculates the total available excess instantaneous power defined as (P<TOTAL>), where P<TOTAL>= P<NET>+ P<CON>, with the net power of the Facility (P<NET>) being the power recorded by the bidirectional power and energy meter (8), considering P< for the calculation NET>positive when the energy is being exported to the electrical grid and negative if it is energy consumed by the home and connected power (P<CON>) as the sum of the powers of the electric heating resistances (1) of the equipment (10) that are connected at a given time. Prepares a list of connection priorities for each electrical - heating resistance (1) of the equipment (10) that takes into account the priority value assigned by each user to the equipment and the temperature difference between the temperature setpoint of each equipment and the temperature that is measured by the ambient probe (7) in the room where the accumulation equipment is installed. Allows the connection of the fixed power electric heating resistances (1) - according to the established priority list until the available P<TOTAL> is completed.