The project to transform a 1920s-era West Lafayette home into the DC Nanogrid House began in 2017 under the direction of Eckhard Groll, the William E. and Florence E. Perry Head of Mechanical Engineering, and member of Purdue’s Center for High Performance Buildings. “We wanted to take a normal house and completely retrofit it with DC appliances and DC architecture,” Groll said.Â
Purdue researchers, in collaboration with Rectify Solar, developed a patented distribution system that enables the house to integrate both DC power – from solar panels, wind turbines or battery storage – and AC power from local electrical utilities. DC-powered light fixtures were provided by Marshall DC Lighting. The system is also modular, so it can grow and adapt for different sizes of homes and businesses, integrating multiple sources of electricity.
Purdue’s DC Nanogrid House is a “living laboratory.” Graduate students live in the home full time to offer real-world feedback on its comfort and usability. They’ve installed sensors in every room to detect whether people are present so that the HVAC system only conditions air where it’s needed.
“A DC-house can potentially sustain itself for short periods of time by generating its own renewable energy and detaching from the grid through the help of on-site stored energy. This ultimately minimizes the strain on the outside grid in emergency situations. Events like the Texas storm are perfect illustrations of how a DC-house can benefit individuals and the community.”
“This gives us the opportunity to perform both cutting-edge research on energy-saving opportunities and observe its potential benefits in a truly real-world setting, rather than just relying on simulations,” Groll said.
Read the full article:Â https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/News/2022/purdue-house-runs-entirely-on-dc-power