Start: November 2025
End: Ongoing
Partner:
In partnership with VenFeld BV, GCSC is designing and developing bespoke control hardware and software for the VirtuHot thermal energy system, targeting maximum efficiency and intelligent operation. This innovative project is supported by the Kansen voor West 3 programme and co-financed by the European Union.
CONTROL OF SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
Synergies with Solar-Thermal Energy
The future of decarbonising heat lies not just in individual technologies, but in their intelligent integration. By combining highly efficient VirtuHot solar thermal collectors by Naked Energy with water-water heat pumps, thermal storage, and intelligent control, together with Venfeld B.V. we contribute to creating a system that is far greater than its individual parts.
In this configuration, the VirtuHOT collectors harvest solar energy to charge a thermal storage buffer, which serves as the source buffer of a water-water heatpump. Raising the source temperature significantly improves the heat pump’s Coefficient of Performance (COP), allowing it to deliver more heat with less electricity. Hence, in comparison to convetional heatpump systems, this system:
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Significantly reduces CO2 emissions, by using less electrical energy over time,
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Lowers the probability of local grid congestion, since the peaks of electrical power demand are flattened.
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VirtuHot Solar Collectors on the roof of the WTC The Hague
At GCSC, we don’t just write code. We take your idea from a concept to a robust feedback-controller. In this project, the objective of our controller is to minimize CO2 emissions, while robustly regulating the operation of heatpumps, valves and pumps. Our approach to control systems is full-stack, meaning we handle every layer of the solution:
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System Architecture: We design the overarching logic that integrates heat pumps, collectors, heat pump and storage into one cohesive system.
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Custom Hardware: We deliver a custom IoT device on a PCB, integrating various chips to handle the multi-signal (e.g., PWM, Analog) and multi-protocol (e.g., Modbus, SPI) environment.
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Embedded Software: Our engineers write efficient low-level code and protocols, ensuring reliability, speed, and robustness.
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Advanced Controls: We implement feedback loops and algorithms that optimize performance in real-time.
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