Danish participation in IEA HPT Annex – IoT Annex – Digitalization and IoT for Heat Pumps
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This project comprises the Danish participation in the Annex about digitalization and IoT for heat pumps which is a part of the Technology Collaboration Programme for heat pump technologies of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
IoT enabled heat pumps are expected to play a comprehensive role in the future and address various aims such as increased user comfort, reduction in energy consumption and an increased independence from fossil fuels. The awareness of IoT enabled heat pumps is already high, and it is expected that this technology will be an important business parameter in the future. Hence, to strengthen Danish energy technology and particularly heat pump technology, there is a need to strengthen the knowledge level further on this subject.
Results and cases
The project began in December 2020 and was completed in June 2023. You can read more about the project results and a review made by the Danish working group which identified twenty-three cases with focus on digitalization and IoT for heat pumps in Denmark. Moreover, the project has looked at some of the future challenges which are significant to the implementation of digital and IoT solutions for heat pumps. This includes aspects about data security, price incentives, and interfaces.
Opportunities and challenges
The project has looked at opportunities and challenges for IoT connected heat pumps. The Annex work has provided guidance, data, and knowledge about heat pump technologies with respect to IoT applications. The results have been disseminated to relevant Danish target groups such as OEMs, heat pump manufacturers, associations, and regulatory authorities.
The project focused on three central topics:
- Interfaces: Questions are how data at different system levels is transferred to the Internet of Things, where which kind of data is processed, and where operation decisions are made.
- Data analysis: How to make wise use of the collected data to provide targeted information for the optimized operation of heat pumps, e.g. machine learning algorithms and soft sensors.
- IoT services: IoT enabled heat pumps can provide different services connected to various business models. E.g. in a smart grid, IoT enabled heat pumps can be applied for smart demand response to reduce peak load and/or to optimize electricity consumption as a function of the electricity price. Another example is preventive analytics, as this is of interest for operators providing what-if analysis for operation decisions and information for predictive maintenance.
About the project
The project is a cooperation between Danish Technological Institute and a group of Danish partners consisting of DTU Construct, DTU Compute, and Energy Machines ApS. This Danish cooperation was part of a large European cooperation with participation of these countries: Austria, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The project was divided into the following five phases:
- State-of-the-art
- Interfaces
- Data analysis
- IoT services
- Dissemination.
The project was funded by The Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme (EUDP).