Model based predictive control for a solar-thermal system

Buildings and their components account for a major amount of the overall global energy consumption. There is a rising demand to increase the end-use energy efficiency. Advanced automation and control for buildings and their components is one possibility how to achieve the desired goal of lower energy consumption. The model based predictive control approach as a special form of optimal control offers a good way to increase energy efficiency. This paper presents the employment of a model based predictive control algorithm for the energy efficient temperature control of a solar-thermal system consisting of a solar collector and a heat exchanger. The design of the controller is based upon a physical lumped model of the system components. In order to illustrate the potential of the model predictive approach for the use in building automation the comparison to a standard PI control approach is made where the energy consumption for both control concepts is analyzed.