Loop Circle Arc Theory (LoCA) – New Method for comprehensive evaluation of Cross-Sectoral and Cellular Organized Energy Systems

The present use of renewable energy sources (RES) will increase strongly in the future. The actual systems of electricity, gas and heat supply have grown over the last 100 years and it was designed to transmit the energy from large, central power plants to distributed con-sumers. To handle a large number of fluctuating feed-in by RES it must not only be rein-forced but transformed fundamentally. A constantly recurring adjustment is only a sympto-matic patching of vulnerabilities. To ensure a proper transformation, a referring target must be set. The new Loop-Circle-Arc-theory (LoCA) finally offers a method to design and evaluate this transformation target.The LoCA-theory combines cellular design, fractal organization and joint energy carriers. The cellular design understands energetic balance groups as self-organizing and self-optimizing energy cells. The fractal organization describes the self-similarity between the whole and its individual parts. Energy carriers are not further considered and traded separately, but they rather complement each other. The joint of electricity, gas and heat increases synergy ef-fects.The central element in the LoCA-theory, which is used again and again, is the energy cell, which is called Cell from this point onwards. Each Cell has exactly one Port, one Source, one Storage, one Converter and one Sink. The Cell provides algorithms for self-management and operation optimizationThe focus of the project is the formulation of this theory and the development of a suitable tool, as basis to design and evaluate concepts of future energy system. Within the project the theory is translated into a mathematical model, which is the basic for a first exemplary implantation of the LoCA-theory in a software tool. The following simulation starts with small clearly arranged energy systems to test and review the implementation. At the end, bigger and complex energy systems will be simulated to demonstrate the ability of this method. The knowledge gained feed back and refine the theory.The final LoCA theory offers a method to develop and evaluate innovative energy systems and a tool for simulating different configurations.

Principal Investigator:
Prof. Dr. Peter Schegner