Component Database

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Function of the Component Database

The Component database provides technical and economic data (e.g., nominal capacity, efficiency, investment and maintenance costs) for systems in the building and industrial sectors and enables the data for components to be transferred directly to TOP-Energy. With its own component database, TOP-Energy offers generic data from the Danish Energy Agency. This requires Internet access to https://top-energy.gfai.de/componentsdb/api/v1.0 (Port 443). Alternatively, you can link other databases in the General options.

Display

Simply activate and deactivate the display of the Component database window with the <F12> function key or in the Home ribbon with the Component database button in the Display group (see following figure).

The Component database is displayed to the right of the form in a separate window. You can also move it freely on your monitors outside the TOP-Energy window using drag-and-drop. The Component database displays the data of the Component group to which the component opened in the form belongs (the CHP in the figure above).

You can also display the component data in the browser.

Data Selection and Transfer

Select the Type with the appropriate size and technology in the Component database from the drop-down list at the top right (see following figure).

The data for the selected component are displayed. The parameters available for the component are marked with dark framed boxes.

The TOP-Energy Component database contains Nominal capacity, efficiency, Minimum part load, and—related to the system size—investment and maintenance costs (Miscellaneous costs) .

You can transfer all suitable or individual data for the respective component to TOP-Energy. Tick marks indicate the parameters to be adopted. The default setting Select all (box below) is initially active. Click in a box to remove or set a checkmark for transfer. Once you have made your selection, click on the Apply data.

Please add additional component parts, such as Investment costs, to the component individually, and also transfer the values from the Component database individually.

Because the correct selection for the component is automatically made using filters, you can ignore the drop-down lists in the database column on the right that contain parameters of the same unit.

The component form is reloaded with the applied data.

A global parameter of a component becomes local when its value is imported from the component database. You can then

Switch it back to global.

Data Source

With the data transfer, the information on the origin from the Component database and the specific component is stored in the Meta data under Data origin.

The Component database comprises several hundred components and their representative techno-economic parameters. The data are taken from the Technology Data catalogues of the Danish Energy Agency and partially adapted. They are based on predictions and cannot guarantee validity for individual cases. No guarantee is given for their accuracy. In particular, you should verify the investment costs for specific applications.

Downloading Data Sources

You can use the button to Download the sources of the component. An Excel file in XLSX format is saved under the name technology_data_for_…, and the directory for the Component data, from which you can open the Excel file directly, is opened in the Windows Explorer.

Opening the Component Data in the Web Browser

You can open the Component database in the Internet browser, call up components, and search the database by Component name and Component group. The data of the selected component are displayed clearly in tabular form (see following figure).

There are two ways to open it:

from the Component database window with the button (with the tooltip Open component in browser, see figure above: the data of the currently opened component are displayed) or
from the Extras ribbon with the Component database button in the Online information group.

An Internet connection to https://top-energy.gfai.de/componentsdb/ and the subpages is required.

Scroll down to Financial data to open a diagram of the investment cost function (see follwing figure).

The characteristic curve runs through the 0 point, is linear, and represents ten times the specified value.

To call up further components in the component group, click on Retrieve Components. A List with the available components opens. Click on the componenten whose data should be displayed.

Here you can search the database by COMPONENT NAME and COMPONENT GROUP.

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