When it comes to reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning, the most common method is to replace old equipment. However, with energy efficiency improving year by year, it's not feasible to spend a large amount of money annually to switch to higher-performing air conditioning systems. The challenge, therefore, lies in maintaining a good coefficient of performance (COP) for existing air conditioning equipment.
The Delta Electronics Foundation has been experimenting with using weather forecasts to manage building air conditioning systems, employing this innovative approach to overcome energy consumption challenges. Under collaboration with Delta Chungli Plant 5 and the International Climate Development Institute (ICDI), the daily cooling demand of the buildings in Chungli Plant 5 is calculated by combining the numerical forecast regional model of the Central Weather Administration and the weather parameters such as temperature and humidity measured by the environmental monitoring sensors. This data is used to calculate the daily cooling demand for Chungli Plant 5, determining the number of chiller tons needed each day to avoid low efficiency.
In addition, the team utilized weather forecasts to calculate the melting efficiency of the ice storage system and determine the optimal start time for the day. This helped reduce the energy consumption of the chillers during daytime operations. After five months of automated scheduling control, the two systems have enabled Chungli Plant 5 to achieve an estimated total energy savings of over 260,000kWh, with a total energy reduction rate of 18%, without the need to replace energy-consuming equipment.
In the past, Delta has also used the same method to help the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology reduce its peak electricity usage during the summer. We managed to reduce its contracted capacity surcharge by 20% and peak summer electricity consumption by 10%. In spring and autumn, we were able to reduce electricity consumption and costs by even up to 30% each.
From these cases, Delta has proved the possibility to achieve energy saving at a very low cost through energy-consuming equipment management and weather forecast data. Its application will be further promoted in the future.