A solar photovoltaic (PV) water heating system includes a tank including at least a first heating unit having at least first and second heating elements, at least one of which is switchable; a PV solar collector; an inverter adapted to convert the output from the PV collector to an alternating power supply; a modulator to modulate the alternating power supply from the inverter; a controller adapted to control the modulator and the switching of the or each switchable heating element; wherein the controller is adapted to control the modulator and the switchable heating elements to maximize the energy drawn from the PV collector.

An air conditioning device includes a gas furnace unit, a heat-pump heat source unit, and one or more utilization units. The gas furnace unit includes an air blower and a first heat exchanger. The utilization unit includes a second heat exchanger. The air conditioning device has a first operation mode in which a heating operation is performed using the gas furnace unit, a second operation mode in which a heating operation is performed using the heat-pump heat source unit, and a third operation mode in which a cooling operation is performed using the heat-pump heat source unit, and performs refrigerant discharge control for temporarily moving a refrigerant on the heat-pump heat source unit side to the second heat exchanger side of the utilization unit at the time of starting of a compressor provided in the heat-pump heat source unit when the first operation mode is switched to the second operation mode.

A collaborative optimization method for an Electric and Heating Networks (EHN) and a building user includes: establishing a coordinated optimization scheduling framework of the EHN and a building in a park; based on the coordinated optimization scheduling framework, constructing an optimal thermal power flow scheduling model of the EHN, and constructing a building model to simulate thermal characteristics and energy consumption of the building; based on the optimal thermal power flow scheduling model and the building model, taking the lowest operation cost of EHN and the lowest heat consumption of building user as a goal, constructing a collaborative optimization model of the EHN and the building user; outputting a collaborative optimization scheme of the optimal thermal power flow scheduling of the EHN and the heat consumption of the building user through the collaborative optimization model of the EHN and the building user.

An on-demand water heater (12) includes a heat exchanger (25). Water is supplied to the water heater from a water source such as a well pump (16) or other source of water. The water supplied to the water heater is treated by at least one water conditioner 18. A plurality of electrical heating elements (26, 28, 30, 32) are supplied with electrical power from rechargeable battery pack (46). At least one circuit (48) is operative to control the delivery electrical power from the battery pack to the heating elements to provide for the delivery of heated water at a set temperature from the water heater. The battery pack of the water heater is recharged from an available supply of house current electrical power. The rechargeable battery pack of the exemplary water heater also provides an auxiliary source of electrical power for other devices in circumstances when electrical power from a usual supply source becomes unavailable.

A space heating system may include: a space heating circuit; a plurality of heat source devices, wherein each of the plurality of heat source devices is configured to perform a first heating operation for heating a heat medium flowing in the space heating circuit; a plurality of heat source controllers, wherein each of the plurality of heat source controllers is configured to set a setting value for a heating capability of its corresponding heat source device; a space heating terminal configured for space heating by heat dissipated from the heat medium; a request generator configured to generate a heating request; and a request transmitter configured to transmit the heating request to a predetermined heat source controller. A heat source controller that is not the predetermined heat source controller may be configured to increase the setting value based on the heating request transmitted to the predetermined heat source controller.

A space heating system may include: a space heating circuit; a plurality of heat source devices, wherein each of the heat source devices is configured to perform a first heating operation for heating a heat medium flowing in the space heating circuit; a plurality of heat source controllers, wherein each of the heat source controllers is configured to control its corresponding heat source device; a space heating terminal configured for space heating by heat dissipated from the heat medium; a request generator configured to generate a heating request; a request transmitter configured to transmit the heating request to a predetermined heat source controller; and a selector configured to select a heat source device that is to perform the first heating operation. In response to the heating request being transmitted to the predetermined heat source controller, the heat source device selected by the selector may perform the first heating operation.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, a control system for a hybrid air heating system is provided. In some embodiments, the hybrid air heating system has at least one electric heating element capable of generating an electric thermal output and at least one burner capable of generating a combustion thermal output. In some embodiments, the control system comprises a controller configured to, based on a desired total thermal output of the hybrid air heating system, determine an amount of the desired total thermal output of the hybrid air heating system to be generated by the at least one electric heating element and an amount of the desired total thermal output of the hybrid air heating system to be generated by the at least one burner.

A system for regulating a building energy supply and distribution installation, the installation including items of energy collection equipment, each of which is in an energy transfer relationship with a respective source; items of energy transformation equipment powered by the collection equipment; items of energy using equipment; the regulation system configured for defining, for the items of equipment, different respective activation states chosen according to parameters, for optimizing with regard to criteria. The system implements a method in the installation, with the following steps: regulation is performed by placing the items of equipment in respective activation states chosen according to demand and parameters, for the purpose of optimizing with regard to criteria; at an intervention instant of regulation, regulation takes forecasts relating to at least one of the parameters into account, the forecasts relating to a period after the intervention instant. A related installation includes the regulation system.

A system for providing supplemental heating to a hot water heater and an electric heat pump includes a solar thermal collector, a solar thermal storage vessel, a first water circulating system, a second water circulating system, and a controller. The first water circulating system circulates water between the solar thermal storage vessel and the solar thermal collector. The second water circulating system circulates heated water between the solar thermal storage vessel, the hot water heater, and a heat exchanger associated with the heat pump. The controller is configured to cause water circulation between the hot water heater and the solar thermal storage vessel so as to raise a temperature of water in the solar thermal storage vessel and/or in the hot water heater, and to cause circulation of heated water from the hot water heater to the heat exchanger to provide auxiliary heat for the heat pump.

A solar photovoltaic (PV) water heating system includes a tank including at least a first heating unit having at least first and second heating elements, at least one of which is switchable; a PV solar collector; an inverter adapted to convert the output from the PV collector to an alternating power supply; a modulator to modulate the alternating power supply from the inverter; a controller adapted to control the modulator and the switching of the or each switchable heating element; wherein the controller is adapted to control the modulator and the switchable heating elements to maximize the energy drawn from the PV collector.