Analysis of Load Match in Nearly Zero Energy Buildings

The concept of load matching refers to the degree of agreement or disagreement of the on-site generation with the building load profiles: it can be increased and optimised with modifications on both the energy demand and generation. In this context, the paper presents the load match analysis of a case study: a modular housing construction (it has an area of 45 m2 and S/V ratio equal to 2.75 m−1) built in Messina (Italy). Moreover, in order to optimize the design of the next test module to be built, a parametric analysis was performed considering different scenarios on the generation side, to explore the effectiveness of the solutions sets used in current design and plan different solutions for the future ones. The results show that a 4 kWh energy storage system can increase the load cover factor by 94% (to 0.78) compared to the base case (0.41), while with only a 250 W fuel cell, the load cover factor can reach the value of 0.97.