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One
of the ten contests in the decathlon involves the
development of a computer simulation for the solar
house. Computer simulation is the electronic modeling
of a system that behaves similarly to the way the
actual system will behave. Our team has used this
tool to create a virtual home that functions just
as the actual solar-powered home will. The simulation
allows us to predict how our house will perform
under different environmental conditions and use
scenarios, to identify control systems that might
help us maximize the performance of our home, and
to develop a competition strategy.
Our simulation used EnergyPlus
to model the home. The results of this simulation
were combined with some other resources to provide
more meaningful information about the behavior of
the house during the competition. Solar
Design Pro was used to estimate energy collection
data. The energy requirements of items in the home
that consume energy -- such as lights and appliances
- were tested, and experiments were run to determine
the most energy efficient means to operate these consumers
and to identify possible control systems.
Finally,
an hourly competition schedule was prepared.
The
results from the
simulation were used to prepare a competition
strategy. |
