Predictive control of a solar air conditioning plant with simultaneous identification

This paper presents the application of a predictive controller with simultaneous identification to a solar air conditioning plant. The time varying nature of the process makes necessary an adjustment of the controller parameters to the varying operational conditions. The main novelty with respect to classic adaptive MPC scheme is to penalize the identificationt error in the cost function used for control. The behaviour of the controller is illustrated by simulations and experimental results. The integration of identification and control avoids the tedious identification procedure that is necessary before the start-up of any predictive controller. This new adaptive MPC scheme shows its effectiveness in controlling the outlet temperature in the solar thermal plant.