Energy recovery and energy storage of the prototype of a novel heat exchanger and energy generation system

Due to the effects of the advancing climate change and the resulting demands for a climate-neutral building stock, it is of great importance to be able to cover a large part of the energy demand by using renewable energies. To this end, a new type of heat storage and energy generation system for buildings is being developed as part of a research project, which aims to generate and store energy in self-sufficient "energy piles". The aim of the present analysis was to evaluate a first prototype, which was developed and experimentally investigated in the course of the project. The investigation focused on energy generation, energy storage and the duration of discharge of the new system. It was shown that the energy production of the prototype works well and is comparable to existing solar thermal collectors. However, with the support of a building simulation, it was shown that the energy storage is not sufficient to economically cover the entire useful energy demand for the thermal conditioning of an example building by the energy pile. The investigations show that the prototype has great potential, but that further development is necessary to make it an economical option.