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At present, distributed energy equipment and thermally-activated equipment must be customized in a CHP system at each building site. This customization can translate into loss of overall efficiency and higher capital costs from on-site engineering. Integrated Energy Systems (IES) combine on-site power or distributed generation technologies with thermally activated technologies to provide cooling, heating, humidity control, energy storage and/or other process functions using thermal energy normally wasted in the production of electricity/power. IES have the potential to offer the nation the benefits of unprecedented energy efficiency gains, consumer choice, and energy security.
IES can therefore expand potential thermal energy services and thereby extend the conventional CHP market into building sector applications that could not be economically served by CHP alone. Now more than ever, these combined cooling, heating and humidity control systems can potentially decrease carbon and air pollutant emissions, while improving source energy efficiency in the buildings sector.
Seven teams of U.S. companies are currently working in partnership with the Department of Energy on the development of modular packaged integrated energy systems to reduce total system costs, improve overall energy efficiency, and reduce operating and maintenance costs. Designing plug-and-play systems for CHP is critical to reducing the time and effort required to integrate system components.
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