GH-Monitor for monitoring ground source heat pumps
The GH-monitor
The GroenHolland-Monitor (GH-Monitor) is a package of hardware and software for monitoring closed systems for geothermal energy for residential and commercial buildings. The Dutch law requires almost all shallow geothermal energy systems to be monitored. The monitoring concerns the extraction and injection in the ground, temperatures and efficiency of the system. For small (<70 kW) systems, these data points must be kept on site for ten years. For larger systems (>70 kW), this data must be reported annually to the competent authority.
In the Netherlands, geothermal energy systems in individual residential buildings are the only ones exempt from this obligation. In practice, this means that two apartments, with an individual heat pump that are connected to the same borehole heat exchanger, must be monitored.
The benefits of the GH-monitor
With the GH-monitor you automatically comply with the monitoring obligations in the Netherlands and you have relevant data points to optimise the energy efficiency of the geothermal energy system. Installing a monitoring system, storing and processing data can itself incur significant costs. The GH-Monitor turns monitoring into an opportunity to save energy and money.
Based on years of experience in monitoring ground energy systems in research and commercial projects, Groenholland has developed a user-friendly monitoring system. The basis for the monitoring system is a low-cost SOC (System on a Chip) platform, which is built with the standard operating system (Linux) and software based on Phyton.
The system has a modular structure:
- Basic module with data logger: this supports communication with bacnet-IP, mode-tcp and REST protocols. These programs can communicate with the hardware (smart meters & heat pump) and we can monitor the data from these devices.
- Expansion module-RTU and modbusp-ascii: the module communicates with the energy meters via RS485 (in two wires). We can use this to monitor the energy meters of these devices.
- Analog expansion module: the module ensures that temperatures for efficiency can be measured via temperature and pulse sensors (flow measurement).
- Communication module on iXON IOT solution: the module communicates via a VP secure connection (options: direct network connection, WIFI or 4G mobile data connection.
The one-stop shop
The data is automatically sent to the Groenholland data server via a secure connection. The data can be shared directly or converted into reports suitable for competent authorities through an automated reporting function. In addition to the mandatory monitoring, it is of course also possible to use the data for an analysis of the geothermal energy system itself. Based on these insights, we advise you on possible improvements to the business operations and efficiency of the system. In short, the GH monitor is a one stop shop package of hardware and software for borehole heat exchangers for residential construction and small utilities!
Contact us!
Do you need help setting up a monitoring system? We are happy to provide you with a system for monitoring your ground source energy project. This gives you the opportunity to optimise your system. Schedule a meeting with our experts and discuss the options!