Generating Variants of an Energy System
In the following, you will learn how the example model of a district heating supply is extended by an energy supply variant.
The actual case, in which the building is supplied by district heating, is to be compared with a variant in which the heat supply is provided by a gas boiler.
Variant nodes in TOP-Energy.
The Variant module evaluates the results of the simulation economically, ecologically, and energetically and presents them clearly.
Continue the started district heating project and create a 
Variant node in it by right-clicking the 
project node in the Project explorer. In the context menu select New → Variant.
Rename the new Variant node to Reference case. To do this, open the context menu of the Variant node with a right-click and select 
Rename.
Drag and drop the already existing 
Simulation node onto the Variant node Reference case. This moves the Simulation node under the Variant node.
Now create a copy of the Variant node. To do this, right-click on the Variant node and select 
Duplicate in the context menu. Rename the new node to Variant 1 gas boiler.
Now please delete the following components from the scheme of the Variant 1 gas boiler:
- District_Heating_Supplier,
- Heating_Tariff.
Now your project looks like this:
Variant module: the Simulation module and the 
Scheme. Below the scheme, the used 
components are displayed.
Click on a component to open its forms.
Executing the Variant Analysis and Simulation Modules
Once all components have been parameterized, the simulation and evaluation of the two variants Reference case and Variant 1 gas boiler with their Simulation modules can be started.
The variant evaluation is performed individually for each Variant node. Proceed as follows.
- Select the variant in the Project explorer by clicking the Variant node.
- Click the TOP-Energy application button
Execute module. - In the dialog box that opens, answer the question “Should the simulation be performed before evaluating the variant?” with Yes.
The Variant analysis progress window shows the progress and completion of the variant evaluation (see the following figure).
On the one hand, the results of the simulation are displayed as Output data in the forms of the components. On the other hand, you see the results of the Variant analysis in the forms of the Variant node.
Results of the Variant Evaluation
The Variant analysis module evaluates the economic, environmental, and energy data from the components and the Simulation node. In doing so, it draws on the results of the simulation.
