Volume 45: Energy Transitions toward Carbon Neutrality: Part VIII

Energy Performance of a Residential Zero Energy Building – R-CELLS in Solar Decathlon China 2022 Jiarui Zhang, Yunfei Mu, Wei Yang, Yueheng Tong

Abstract

To achieve the goals of carbon peak and neutrality, energy efficiency and carbon reduction in the building sector are crucial. Zero energy buildings (ZEBs) have emerged as a solution to address these challenges. This paper takes the example of R-CELLS, the champion competition entry from team Tianjin U+ in the Solar Decathlon China 2022 (SDC 2022), to introduce the energy performance of a residential ZEB combined with PEDF (photovoltaics, energy storage, direct current, flexibility). To achieve the building net-zero goal, the R-CELLS integrates various renewable energy sources (building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T), and building integrated wind turbines (BIWT)), energy storage systems (battery energy storage system (BESS), hot water tank (HWT), and phase change materials (PCM) thermal storage), an alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) hybrid power distribution system, and a weekly-daily-hourly tri-period energy management strategy. Based on the actual operation during SDC 2022, the performance and influencing factors of R-CELLS in both grid-connected and off-grid modes are analyzed. The results demonstrate that R-CELLS can meet the standards of the residential ZEB and can achieve daily zero-energy consumption.

Keywords Energy performance, Zero energy building (ZEB), Solar Decathlon China (SDC), Energy system, Off grid