VC CHILLERS AND PV PANELS: A GENERIC PLANNING TOOL PROVIDING T HE OPTIMAL DIMENSIONS TO MINIMIZE COSTS OR EMISSIONS

We developed a design optimization tool for a primary HVAC plant consisting of vacuum compression chillers and PV panels. If provided with weather data, hourly cooling demand, and PV area limitations, it yields the optimal PV panel dimensions and the number of chillers, as well as their nominal capacities. Additionaly, it provides the costs and the emissions resulting from utilizing such plant to supply the thermal distribution network of the building. The tool is based on a quasi-static system simulation, which calculates objective function values to be evaluated by the optimization algorithm. It targets preliminary building design and planning.