In the context of the European project H2020 ENVISION (https://www.energy-envision.eu/) the University of Genoa is, as Thermochemical Power Group (TPG), the partner responsible for the development of one of the main demo sites of the project. In this demonstrator, the technologies developed and produced by the other partners of the project will be tested in interface with the polygenerative microgrid of the Savona Campus.  The ENVISION technologies in question will be: facade solar panels (connected to a heat pump) and the “ventilated windows”, a heating system for indoor environments based on the principle of heating the outside air through the passage between the glass surfaces of the window.

One part of the demonstrator consists of several ENVISION facade panels (surface of about 100 m2) providing heat to the cold side (evaporator) of a 10kWe heat pump. At the interface, a small thermal storage is placed to mitigate the strong fluctuation typical of RES applications. The heat pump is used as a “temperature booster” to supply heat to the district heating network at the required temperature (75°C).  In parallel, a cogeneration unit is installed to also supply electricity (both to the heat pump and to the smart grid). The chosen cogeneration unit is a micro gas turbine (mGT) with a size of 100kWe and 150 kWth. A thermal energy accumulator is also installed to have an additional degree of freedom in the management of this system, decoupling the thermal needs from the electrical ones. Then, the possibility to connect the energy-hub to the district heating network, but also to heat sinks, ensures the possibility to test different scenarios in terms of energy needs. The final installation will be completed in 2021 but, as of August 2019, a preliminary installation is already in place.

The ventilated window system will be tested in order to evaluate the performance of the system to achieve a high TRL. The window configuration is different depending on the season. Two configurations are available: a winter one aiming to provide warm air inside the room; and a summer one aiming to produce hot water by cooling the air entering the room through a dedicated heat exchanger. The system will be connected in summer mode when the airflow is forced through. The heat exchanger, while in winter mode the heat exchanger is by-passed. The ventilated window system will be installed in 2021, at the Delfino Building.