The Development of an Off-Peak Ground Pre-Cool Control Strategy for Hybrid Ground-Source Heat Pump Systems

Hybrid Ground-Source Heat Pump (HGSHP) systems have been introduced as a remedy to overcome the current financial hurtles associated to the installation of geo-exchange technology. However, there still remains potential for increased economic feasibility of geo-exchange through proactive operation prefaced with higher level control. This study introduces a control strategy referred to as an off-peak ground pre-cool, employing time-of-use conscious operating logic capable of facilitating artificial bore-field pre-conditioning to improve a geo-exchange system’s cooling mode performance. Artificial pre-conditioning of a system’s bore-field introduces the potential to improve the bore-field’s thermal characteristics in a controlled manner. With improved thermal characteristics a bore-field can be exploited more efficiently during the following peak periods; introducing additional economic incentives by reducing peak power consumption attributed to space cooling. This study presents a multifaceted approach which intends to concurrently address improving system economics and aid in the balancing of the electrical grid.