Miriam Di Matteo

Decarbonising the building sector, particularly residential heating, represents a critical challenge for achieving carbon-neutral energy systems. Efficient solutions must integrate both technological performance and renewable energy sources while considering operational constraints of existing systems. This study investigates a hybrid heating system combining a natural gas boiler (NGB) with an air-to-water heat pump (AWHP), evaluated through a combination of laboratory experiments and dynamic modelling. A prototype developed in the Electrical and Energy Engineering Laboratory enabled the characterization of both heat generators, the collection of experimental data, and the calibration of a MATLAB/Simulink model, including emissions and exhaust analyses. Sensitivity analyses were performed to identify optimal configurations for energy efficiency and system control, accounting for interactions between subsystems. Results highlight that hybridisation significantly improves primary energy efficiency and reduces fuel consumption compared to conventional NGB-only systems. Environmental performance, assessed through CO2 and NOx emissions and renewable energy integration, demonstrates the benefits of partial electrification in the residential sector. Economic assessment further quantifies decarbonization costs and fuel savings, illustrating trade-offs between low-capital, moderate-performance systems and high-efficiency, high-renewable solutions requiring larger investments. The analysis shows that strategic decisions for residential decarbonisation cannot be separated from system-wide considerations, including control strategies, component integration, and economic feasibility. The study underlines the importance of hybrid and renewable-based solutions as pivotal pathways for energy transition in the residential building sector.

Despite renewable energy source integration being a well-established requirement in international policies, energy systems still face some unresolved issues, including the intermittence of production. To tackle this problem, a viable solution could comprise the off-peak storage of electricity production excess, to be consumed later during peak-load hours. The transition from the diffuse pattern of centralized generation to the distributed model, involving energy communities, suggests an additional aspect to manage: the spatial constraints of systems for domestic applications. Compressed-air energy storage represents a promising Power-to-Power technology for small-scale energy integration. This study proposes the application of a gas–liquid energy storage system (GLES) in a residential building, using renewable energy excess from a photovoltaic (PV) array. The performance of the proposed system, whose operation involves the compression of the gaseous mass through a piston operated by mineral oil, was evaluated through energy analysis performed simulating the devices and their coupling with the load profiles of the building. The thermodynamic model of storage was validated using data from an experimental campaign on a prototype. A sensitivity study, acting on the features of the system, such as the compression rate and vessel size, allowed us to compare the absorbed PV energy excess, the coverage of the building energy demand during the expansion phase, and the electrical efficiency of a daily cycle. The results obtained, together with the related economic analysis, were used to quantify the market potential of the proposed solution, to be exploited as a mechanical alternative to conventional electric batteries in dwellings.