Energy Technology Laboratory (electrical and thermal)

Customised analysis, moulding and characterisation services for electrical and thermal equipment and systems. 

Eurecat’s Energy Technology Laboratory is made up of:

(i) the microgrid in the electrical laboratory, to which electricity production, storage and consumption equipment is connected;

(ii) the thermal storage facility housed in the thermal laboratory, which is used for testing heat pumps, heat exchangers, heat storage tanks and more; and

(iii) the waste management and biogas production system in the thermal laboratory, which is an experimental unit for obtaining and characterising biogases from waste.

Service types

In the laboratory we characterise power generation equipment such as photovoltaic panels, windmills, fuel cells and power inverters. We also characterise and test electrical storage devices (batteries) and their effect when connected to the microgrid and try out energy hybridisation solutions and check operating conditions.

In this work stream, thermal equipment can also be tested and characterised in the thermal laboratory to verify efficiencies and operating points of the equipment and its inclusion in a thermal system along with characterising heat recovery processes.

Methods and techniques available

Hardware in the Loop (DSpace software), numerical simulations (based on the MATLAB simulation platform) and integration with proprietary developed tools (IESD_E tool and RES Decision Support System tool), building energy simulations (DesignBuilder and EnergyPlus™ software) TRL 4.

Standout technologies

Microgrid with 15kW capacity for testing energy equipment. The microgrid is connected to a photovoltaic panel array that can supply up to 3.6kW, an emulation system capable of generating 15kW and batteries for energy storage (10kW) to work on energy technology hybridisation projects.
Thermal system (7.2kW water-to-water) for testing heat exchange equipment (heat exchanger), thermal energy generation (heat pumps) and storage (accumulator racks).