Optimization of the Hybrid Energy Harvest Systems Sizing for Zero or Zero Net Energy Houses

Energy efficient and zero or zero net energy buildings are quickly gaining more importance and popularity among contemporary building practices. Typically several renewable energy harvesting systems are combined together to reach the objective of zero (net) energy consumption which results in a unique challenge properly sizing each energy system. Because a standard design procedure does not exist, inappropriately sized energy systems are often installed. In this paper, a holistic design procedure is introduced which determines and optimizes the corresponding size of renewable energy systems in a typical residential house to meet the total energy demand. To evaluate this procedure a case study was implemented for a zero net energy test home (ZNETH) at the University of Nebraska with three energy sources including a geothermal system, a photovoltaic panel (PV) system and wind turbine systems.