The overall objective of this project is to develop a new advanced solar cooling and heating product, using advanced heat exchanger technology and integrating a heat pump for covering peak demand. This new product is based on the further improvement and integration of the products already commercialized by Fahren and Akotec. It uses synergies between the technologies of thermal chillers (heat to cooling technology) and heat pump (electricity to cooling technology) and combines know-how on design and manufacturing of adsorption chillers and solar thermal collectors in Germany, with the know-how in heat pump and dry cooling systems of CNR and NTUA. The main innovation of the project is the adsorption chiller unit based on Fahren’s patented zeolite coating technology, reducing the unit’s volume and cost by about two times. This new product is expected to become cost-effective and with high flexibility for providing both cooling (during summer) and heating (during winter) from the same compact product, being more competitive than existing mainstream solution, reducing energy costs of the end-users and leading to short ROI. The main target market is the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) market, with the ambition to become front-runners and provide the first cost-effective product, with low maintenance requirements. The target cost is to reach just 2000 €/kW (with solar field and cooling, heating and thermal storage included) and secure a short return on investment. The new product will be commercialized by a new joint venture established between Fahren and Akotec with Diadikasia being a strategic partner for promotion and sales in south Europe. The initial target markets are in Greece, Italy and Germany, while further expansion steps will follow once sales increase.

Fit4Micro aims to develop a hybrid microCHP unit running on sustainable liquid biofuels. Application is foreseen at multi-family houses, and more specifically at remote and/or off-grid locations. The innovative system is based on a double shaft micro gas turbine (mGT) combined with a novel humidification unit. This unique combination leads to very high electrical efficiencies (>40%) as well as a very flexible heat:power ratio. Low emissions are achieved by the application of flameless combustion, and a high GHG emission reduction is obtained by using truly advanced, RED2 compliant biofuel. Use of a mGT as core-unit in Fit4Micro is ideal for domestic usage, as the system has very low noise output and is vibration free. Furthermore, rapid response times and fuel-flexible operation make this the ideal base for a highly efficient hybrid CHP system, resilient to changes in (local) fuel and power markets, empowering the consumers through digital solutions. Furthermore, the Fit4Micro unit will be integrated with a compression heat pump, an innovative adsorption and a solar PV system through the DC power system avoiding transmission losses. A smart control system will be developed to enable optimal performance at all times. Efficient fuel distribution and off-grid operation of Fit4Micro is enabled by using sustainable liquid biofuels. These fuels will be produced from biomass residues and organic waste streams, through fast pyrolysis followed by mild hydro-processing yielding a hydrotreated pyrolysis oil (HPO). In Fit4Micro the objective is to widen the feedstock basis and lower the fuel costs by i) using residues as the primary feedstock, and ii) by limiting hydrogen consumption by application of mild processing conditions. Besides technological development work, the Fit4Micro project includes specific activities on socio-economic and environmental sustainability, public perception, gender dimensions, market aspects, the regulatory framework & policies.

Heat4Cool proposes an innovative, efficient and cost-effective solution to optimize the integration of a set of rehabilitation systems in order to meet the net-zero energy standards. The project develops, integrates and demonstrates an easy to install and highly energy efficient solution for building retrofitting that begins from the Heat4Cool advanced decision-making tool (which addresses the building and district characteristics) and leads to the optimal solution combining (1) gas and solar thermally driven adsorption heat pumps, which permits the full integration with existing natural gas boilers to ensure efficient use of current equipment , (2) solar PV assisted DC powered heat pump connected to an advanced modular PCM heat and cold storage system, and (3) energy recovery from sewage water with high performance heat exchangers. This retrofitting solution together with a closer interaction between building monitoring, demand/respond supply match, weather forecast and HVAC activation/control through a Self-Correcting Intelligent Building Energy Management Systems (SCI-BEMS) will save at least 10% of energy consumption. The project will implement four benchmark retrofitting projects in four different European climates to achieve a reduction of at least 20% in energy consumption in a technically, socially, and financially feasible manner and demonstrate a return on investment of 8 years. The Heat4Cool consortium will ensure the maximum replication potential of the Heat4Cool solution by a continuous monitoring of technical and economic barriers during the development and validation phases in order to present the building owners and investors with clear energy and economic evidence of the value of implementing Heat4Cool solution. A detailed business plan will be developed in the beginning of the project to strengthen the exploitation plan of the retrofitting package and set the basis for a massive replication of the demonstrated concept across Europe.

The SolBio-Rev project will develop a flexible energy system suitable for building integration based on renewables for covering a large share of energy demand (heating/cooling/electricity). Its flexibility is derived from the long-term collaboration of key industrial partners with research organisations, having in mind the large variety of EU buildings, especially non-residential (types, uses and sizes). The overall objective is to develop a configuration based on renewables that allows covering all heating and cooling demand and a variable electricity demand (from zero up to even 100%) in a cost-effective manner. This configuration is based on solar, ambient and bioenergy, while it is suitable to be installed in various buildings types and sizes without any geographical restriction. The main technologies included have already proven their performance and they are combined with the aim to exploit all possible energy flows/sources, ensuring their cost-effectiveness compared to standard solutions. The SolBio-Rev concept is based on solar thermal collectors with vacuum tubes combined with thermoelectrics, a cascade thermal chiller with electrical-driven heat pump for very high performance under cooling operation even at extreme hot conditions, a reversible heat pump/ORC for enhancing flexibility and switching operating modes between summer and winter, exploiting all available solar heat, and an advanced biomass boiler coupled with the above ORC for CHP operation. A smart control is also envisaged to manage and optimise the system operation with user-friendly features. The project also includes dissemination and communication activities to ensure outreach of its results, as well as an active participation of end-users and installers in the technology development. Moreover, exploitation activities include long-term deployment path development through a technology roadmap.

The SWS-HEATING project will develop an innovative seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) unit with a novel storage material and creative configuration, i.e. a sorbent material embedded in a compact multi-modular sorption STES unit. This will allow to store and shift the harvested solar energy available abundantly during the summer to the less sunny and colder winter period thus covering a large fraction of heating and domestic hot water demand in buildings. The targeted benefit of this next generation solar heating technology is to reach and overcome a solar fraction of 60% in central/north Europe, reaching 80% in the sunnier south of Europe, with a compact and high-performing STES system at low cost, realising solar-active houses throughout EU. The SWS-heating system is based on a multi-modular sorption seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) unit, using novel sorbent materials of Selective Water Sorbents (SWS) family characterised by superior heat storage density compared to the state of the art, making it possible to drastically decrease the storage volume with negligible thermal losses. These materials are employed in a sorption module with dedicated heat exchangers. Solar heat is provided to the storage modules by high-efficiency evacuated tube solar thermal collectors. Intensive research activities will deal with an advanced vacuum combi-storage tank, with the aim to further minimise thermal losses. A smart and adaptive control will be developed for efficiently managing heat supply and demand sides, including advanced features aiming at user-friendliness. A building prototype will be commissioned including the SWS-heating system, which will be tested and validated in Germany and Sweden and proof all challenging objectives. The project also includes dissemination and communication activities to ensure outreach of its results. Moreover, exploitation activities include long-term deployment path development through a technology roadmap.