Annual cycle of a seasonal heat accumulator of
thermal energy of an energy-efficient house
2023 5th International Youth Conference on Radio Electronics, Electrical and Power Engineering (REEPE) | 979-8-3503-9952-3/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/REEPE57272.2023.10086839
Vladislav Y. Chaikin 1, Tserendorj Tsetsgee 2, Baydaa Bo
Dakkah3, Ildar A. Sultanguzin4, Yuri V. Yavorovsky5,
Department of Industrial Heat Power Engineering Systems
National Research University "MPEI"
Moscow, Russian Federation
1ChaikinVY@mpei.ru,
2TserendorzhT@mpei.ru,
3eng.baydaabod@gmail.com,
4SultanguzinIA@mpei.ru,
5YavorovskyYV@mpei.ru,
Abstract—The purpose of this work is to conduct an
experiment on the seasonal accumulation of thermal energy. A
study of the operation of an underground heat accumulator in
various modes was carried out. The design stages of modeling
work in the TRNSYS program and the introduction of a heat
accumulator into the heat supply system are presented. The
results of monitoring the generation and consumption of
thermal energy by house systems are analyzed. The unique
results have been obtained, their distinctive feature is that they
are obtained on the basis of the work of a real object.
Keywords— renewable energy resources, passive house, heat
accumulator, energy efficiency, underground heat accumulator,
heat pump.
I. INTRODUCTION
Currently, the world is witnessing the popularity of
building energy-efficient houses. One of the most popular
building concepts is the passive house concept. This idea
implies almost zero energy consumption. Due to the building
solutions and technologies used, passive buildings should
have a specific heat consumption for heating of less than 15
kWh/(m²∙year). For greater efficiency and a complete
reduction in specific consumption to zero, renewable energy
sources are used. [1-3].
At present, there are no buildings in the region of the
object of study that in all respects corresponded to the norms
of a passive house [4]. However, methods and basic principles
are already being used to build energy efficient homes.
The main source of heating is a heat pump. It uses low
temperature heat sources to heat buildings. It also allows the
use of renewable energy sources for its operation.
Solar radiation—it is an inexhaustible and
environmentally friendly source of energy. This allows you
to receive thermal energy. For this reason, solar collectors
have recently gained popularity. The use of solar collectors
depends on the time of day, weather conditions and time of
year. The advantage of solar heat pump systems is that they
are recognized as the cleanest and most energy efficient
systems for heating and cooling [5].
Underground storage of thermal energy can be a good
solution to the problem of seasonality, it is the possibility of
wide application in the future.
There are two options for seasonal storage of heat and
cold: in a heat accumulator [6] and an ice accumulator [7].
Both options are located underground and heated by solar
979-8-3503-9952-3/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE
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Andrey N. Nechaev
LLC "TNS"
Moscow, Russian Federation
nechaev_a_n@mail.ru
collectors. The stored energy is used for heating and air
conditioning of the building together with the heat pump.
The main task is to study the possibility of using a seasonal
thermal energy accumulator in the building’s heat supply
system. This requires joint research and modernization of the
engineering system, the use of renewable energy sources
(RES) and underground energy storage processes.
The topic of seasonal accumulation of thermal energy is
relevant, since there is an excess of renewable energy sources
in summer and a lack of thermal energy in winter.
Based on the analysis of articles related to the use of an
underground heat accumulator and solar collectors, it was
found that the bulk of research is focused on theoretical
modeling of the systems. However, there are few works
devoted to the study of the operating modes of such
containers.
In one of the studies [8], a study was made of the method
of heat accumulation in an underground heat accumulator.
The purpose of this article is to study various modes of
operation of an underground heat accumulator. This research
describes the technical classification and operating principle
of underground seasonal thermal energy storage, reviews the
state-of-art of thermal energy storage worldwide, and also
predicts the development trends of the technology. It reveals
that that technology has significant economic, social and
environmental benefits.
The use of a heat pump to work with an underground heat
storage is considered in the article [9]. In this article, heat
transfer processes were considered and the efficiency of using
a heat pump was calculated. The simulation confirmed the
effectiveness of the heat pump. In this study, it was found that
underground tanks enter the regime within 5 years.
In the cold climate of Russia, it is required to increase the
energy efficiency of the heat supply system. Therefore, it is
necessary to conduct a similar study aimed at reducing the
seasonality factor when using solar energy. At the same time,
the problem of using free and environmentally friendly heat
from the sun will be solved.
II. SETTING OF THE PROBLEM
The object of the study was a house with a seasonal
thermal energy accumulator in the Moscow region [10, 11]. In
an energy-efficient house, solar collectors are an important
source of thermal energy in spring and summer [12, 13].
During the day, they produce energy several times more than
the house consumes. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly and
 efficiently «surplus» energy, which will be stored for a long
time and used as a source of thermal energy together with a
heat pump in the autumn and winter months.
The energy balance of the building is described by the
following equations:
= (1)
= + + + (2)
= + + (3)
where, heat gain consists of solar collector heat pump
, heat pump output , internal heat gain . Increasing
and using underground heat storage is a key action
to be taken to energy efficiency standards.
During the construction of the object, the principles of the
passive house concept are used. The aim of further studies is
to reduce the thermal heat load and reduce the
ventilation heat loads . This is achieved by new equipment,
the use of recuperation and optimization of the system.
The heat accumulator is being introduced in to the system
of an already operated house. The heat pump used to heat the
house is connected to a heat exchanger located in the tank.
Thus, it becomes possible to more efficiently use the heat from
the sun for a long time.
The purpose of this work is to study the operating modes
of the heat accumulator in the different season of the year. One
of the objectives of this work is to study the possibility of heat
from the heat accumulator directly into the house. In this
mode, the heat pump will not be used. To do this, the coolant
will flow into a small heat accumulator in the house. In the
future, there will be distribution for heating needs.
An important problem in the study of regimes concerns
reaching the maximum temperature and controlling how the
thermal storage behaves at high temperatures. In summer, the
temperature reaches high values. Water may evaporate. This
Fig. 1. Engineering system of an energy efficient house.
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phenomenon will reduce the efficiency of solar panels and
thermal insulation.
III. STUDY OF THE HEAT ACCUMULATOR AND ENERGY-
EFFICIENT HOUSE SYSTEMS
All the results presented in this article were obtained in
the course of experiments conducted on the basis of an energy
efficient house. The building is located in the Moscow region
and has an area of 200 m2. For the operation of equipment in
the heat supply system of the facility, monitoring and control
systems are installed [14], [15]. These systems analyze the
temperatures in the heating system online and optimize the
operation of the equipment. Monitoring systems collect
system parameters over a long period of time. The values of
temperature, flow rate, and thermal power allow to conduct
scientific experiments at this facility.
This house was built according to passive house
standards. Additional insulation has been installed, which
reduces the load on heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Before the start of construction, the scheme of the house was
calculated in simulation programs [16], [17]. The simulation
results allowed to improve the energy efficiency of the
building.
Figure 1 shows the scheme of the object. During the
operation of the facility, the scheme was supplemented with
various equipment that increased the energy efficiency of the
building..
The accumulator is located at 5 meters from the house. It
is made of hydraulic concrete with a thermal insulation
thickness of 50 cm to 60 cm. As a prototype of a thermal
circuit with a heat accumulator a "passive house" in Ireland
[18] was taken. The accumulator can be divided into 3 parts
according to the place of construction: roof, wall, bottom.
On fig. 2 shows a drawing of the geometry of a model of
a seasonal accumulator with solar collectors.
 Solar collectors
ЯSolar, 6 pcs.
2 065

Solar collectors
23 deg ЯSolar, 6 pcs.

2 950
2 065

2 155
53 deg

200
Embankment level
1 470
Zero level
500

450
Styrofoam Polyisocyanurate foam

750
1 160 URSA XPS, 500mm PIR-PIRRO, 50mm
1 000 Hydraulic concrete, 150mm

Expanded polystyrene URSA XPS, 400mm

Expanded polystyrene URSA XPS, 400mm

Hydraulic concrete, 200mm Water level

Hydraulic concrete, 200mm

200
2 200

2 000

4 000
4 300

Polyisocyanurate foam
PIR-PIRRO, 50mm
Hydraulic concrete, 250mm
Polyisocyanurate foam
PIR-PIRRO, 50mm

Sand, 200mm

Extruded polystyrene foam CARBON ECO SP, 500mm

Fig. 2. The geometry model of a seasonal accumulator with solar collectors.

IV. MONITORING SYSTEMS

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Using monitoring systems, a huge amount of data was
collected and processed. This data is very valuable because It In the spring period, the use of a heat pump is stopped in
can't be get without an experimental work. This is of great the considered energy-efficient house. With the help of
value, since these parameters can only be obtained by information from the monitoring system, it is possible to
conducting an experiment with a built energy-efficient house. compare consumption over two years (Fig. 3.). The graph
shows a comparison of the operation of a heat pump over 2
The monitoring system used is PoliTER software and years. These data show how the energy of solar collectors
hardware complex. This complex allows to collect and reduces electricity consumption. Thanks to the use of solar
monitor various technological parameters (temperature, collectors, the use of the heat pump has been reduced.
pressure, flow, humidity, etc.) for different points with an Compared to last year, the heat pump's electricity
interval of one minute. Using data from heat meters, the consumption has decreased by 185 kWh. In addition, the
program can build a complete picture of a home's energy solar collectors generated 425 kWh of thermal energy from
consumption. the sun.
The program is using for managing the systems of an 600 12
energy-efficient house is TeploMonitor. This programme
includes different web services on the site teplomonitor.ru 500 10

and a lot of devices that directly control the operation of 400 8

heating in the system. The system is aimed at maintaining the
temperature of the hot water circuit and the comfortable room 300 6
temperature at preset values. And in order to maintain the set
200 4
temperature in the desired Circuit, determined by the readings
of various thermometers, the system sets the required 100 2
operating mode for valves and pumps.
0 0
Over several years of using the system, a large archive of 01 Mar 08 Mar 15 Mar 22 Mar 29 Mar 05 Apr 12 Apr 19 Apr 26 Apr
data has been accumulated. Using this data, it is possible to Thermal power from HP in 2021(kWh) HP in 2022(kWh)
solar collectors (kW)
compare changes in home systems. And with the use of
monitoring of the outdoor temperature, it is also possible to Fig. 3. Power schedule from March 1st to April 31st
make the comparison process of the results more accurate.
When there is no need for heating in the house, summer
In the seasonal accumulator, constant monitoring of mode begins. At this time, all the thermal power generated by
various parameters over a long period of time was carried out solar collectors enters the underground heat accumulator.
with subsequent analysis. In the future, all readings from the Heat exchange with the liquid in the battery is carried out by
devices will be collected and processed in special monitoring a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is a coil made of
systems. stainless steel pipe. In 2022, the maximum temperature was
73°C. The graph shown in Figure 4 shows a graph of
temperature growth in an underground reservoir. During the

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 summer operation, features associated with the evaporation received from the battery and solar collectors amounted to
of the liquid were found. This affects the temperature loss. In 624 kWh of thermal energy.
total, 5341 kWh of thermal energy was devoted to the heat
800
accumulator from the sun. All this heat was stored in a heat

Energy spent on the heat pump, kWh

accumulator for use during the heating period. The decrease 700
in temperature is associated with the loss of thermal energy. 600
This topic requires further research and mathematical 500
modeling.
400
100 250
300
90
200
80 200
100

Thermal power,kWh
70
60 150 0
Temp ,°С

01 Oct 11 Oct 21 Oct 31 Oct 10 Nov 20 Nov 30 Nov

50 2020 2021 2022
40 100
Fig. 6. Consumption schedule for 2020 - 2022 at the beginning of the heating
30 period.
20 50
Based on the results of the battery operation from October
10 1 to November 30, data were received. According to these
0 0 data, it can be seen that the use of a battery in conjunction
1 May 1 Jun 1 Jul 1 Aug 1 Sep 1 Oct
Temperature in the accumulator Thermal power from the sun
with solar panels has delayed the use of a heat pump (Figure
6). During this period, the ambient temperatures for 3 years
Fig. 4. Graph of heat generation on solar collectors and temperature change
in the underground tank.
were the same. This confirms the correctness of the results on
reducing the use of the heat pump. The reduction in electrical
In autumn, ground-based solar collectors are again used energy consumed by the heat pump was 482 kWh
to heat the building. This is due to the low temperature
received from the sun. The sun cannot heat a high-
temperature liquid in a heat accumulator. For this reason, this 30
heat goes into the house. In 2022, this mode began on
September 23rd. This is confirmed by data from the 25 2501
monitoring system.

Thermal power (kWh)

20 2001
Temperature (°С)

60 600

15 1501
50 500
Thermal power (kWh)

10 1001
Temperature (°С)

40 400
5 501

30 300
0 1
5 Nov 11 Nov 17 Nov 23 Nov 29 Nov 5 Dec 11 Dec
20 200
Heat from HP+Accumulator Heat from HP

10
0 0
1 Oct 6 Oct 11 Oct 16 Oct
Thermal power from
solar collectors (kW)
Temperature
in the accumulator(°С)
Fig. 5. Schedule of thermal power from October 1 to 30.
The next regime under study is winter. At this time, heat
is taken directly from the tank. The heat carrier takes heat
through the heat exchanger and transfers it to the house. It
also uses heat from solar panels. Figure 6 shows a graph of
heat consumption by house systems. The change in
temperature inside the tank is also noticeable. This is due to
the natural loss of heat and the body's consumption for
heating. The distribution of heat is carried out through an
insulated tank of 500 liters. Heat is consumed for the needs
of hot water supply and heating. The total amount of energy
100
Fig. 7. Consumption schedule for 2020 – 2022 at the beginning of the heating
period.
21 Oct 26 Oct 31 Oct 5 Nov
In order to approximately determine what temperature will
Thermal power from be in the seasonal accumulator during the heating season and
heat accumulator (kW) how long the stored thermal energy will last, the TRNSYS
program is used [19]. It developed a scheme for a seasonal
battery with solar collectors. A simulation of the thermal load
has been carried out, which should reflect the actual behavior
of the system. Specifying the operating mode of the heat pump
will indicate the consumption of the system.
The maximum value of water temperature in the
underground accumulator according to calculations in the
TRNSYS program is 72 °C.
The discrepancy between the water temperature in the
seasonal accumulator according to the results in the TRNSYS
program in comparison with the experimental data, equal to
11%, is explained by the difference in meteorological data
(Figure 8).

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 100
90
80
70
Temp. in the accumulator,
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 pump wheat drying system with underground thermal energy storage
1 May 1 Jun 1 Jul 1 Aug 1 Sep 1 Oct 1 Nov
Fig. 8. Modeling of heat accumulator operation (yellow line) and
monitoring results (dashed line).
Evaluation of the efficiency of the seasonal energy
storage system showed that thermal energy was saved during
the heating period. According to calculations using
experimental data, 389 kWh can be saved in the winter-spring
period and 560 kWh in the autumn period, which gives a total
of 949 kWh. Experiment confirmed these data.
VI. CONCLUSION
In the course of the work done, the operating modes of the
seasonal battery and the operation of systems during the
heating season were analyzed. This made it possible to obtain
unique data. In the spring and autumn of 2022, it was possible
to generate 425 and 624 kW of thermal energy, respectively.
In total, this gave 1050 kWh of thermal energy. The natural
increase in temperature for the period from April 1 to July 1
was 58°C. The maximum temperature reached 73°C. Studies
have shown that the insulation has withstood the load. The
heat pump started working on November 4th. Heat pump
electricity consumption from February to March 2022
decreased by 482 kWh (37%) compared to previous heating
seasons due to the operation of solar collectors. The
experiment confirmed the simulation results. The values
obtained during the experiment indicate the high efficiency
of the underground battery and solar collectors. The plans
include further operation and research of a seasonal
accumulator, collection and processing of data from devices,
an actual assessment of the effectiveness of seasonal
accumulations of thermal energy for the heating period 2022-
2023. It is planned to make changes to the tank insulation. By
increasing the tightness, higher temperatures can be obtained.
This operation will increase the period of winter operation of
the equipment.
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