Energy, economic and environmental performance simulation of a hybrid renewable microgeneration system with neural network predictive control

The use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in various applications has grown significantly over the years. This paper compares an ANN based approach with a conventional on-off control applied to the operation of a ground source heat pump/photovoltaic thermal system serving a single house located in Ottawa (Canada) for heating and cooling purposes. The hybrid renewable microgeneration system was investigated using the dynamic simulation software TRNSYS. A controller for predicting the future room temperature was developed in the MATLAB environment and six ANN control logics were analyzed.