PEOPLEDiego Menegon

de en it

Diego Menegon

Senior Researcher
Institute for Renewable Energy

T +39 0471 055 639

diego.menegon@eurac.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6267-2281

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About

Short bio:

I'm a senior researcher at the Institute for Renewable Energy of Eurac Research in the group "Sustainable heating and cooling systems". My research activities are in the field of heating and cooling systems driven by renewable energies. I'm managing the testing activities and I'm the quality referent of the “Heat Pump Lab”. With our laboratory infrastracture we support the manufacturers on develop products for the heating and cooling market.

I'm a contributor as an expert in the projects of the International Energy Agency IEA as "Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) program" and "Heat Pumping Technologies (HPT) program.

Main research fields:

Heat pumps
Heating and cooling systems
Laboratory test
Dynamic test

link to external profiles:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/diego-menegon-63114611b/

https://www.eurac.edu/en/institutes-centers/institute-for-renewable-energy/pages/heat-pumps-lab

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6267-2281

Scientific Publications

Journal article2025

Innovative approach and numerical modeling to retrofit existing substations for bidirectional operation: Enabling thermal prosumer participation in District Heating Network

Gianaroli F, Ricci M, Sdringola P, Pipiciello M, Menegon D, Melino F

Diego Menegon, Mauro Pipiciello

The heating and cooling sector accounts for nearly half of Europe's total energy consumption, highlighting the urgency of its decarbonization. District heating networks, which serve approximately 100 million people across Europe, are recognized by the recent European Energy Efficiency Directives as key infrastructures for integrating renewable energy and waste heat. In Italy, while energy efficiency improvements have primarily focused on thermal production plants, decentralized substations still require upgrades to enhance their performance and support the emergence of thermal prosumers. This study presents a non-invasive retrofit design for an existing substation in a district heating network in Italy, aimed at preserving the integrity of the original infrastructure while implementing a new control system to recover unused solar energy in a supply-to-return configuration. Modelica language and Dymola software are used to develop the numerical model of the bidirectional substation, and multi-domain simulations based on real thermal load and solar production data from a multifamily building are performed with a one-second time step to dynamically test the entire system. Results show that the control strategy effectively manages thermal exchange dynamics even under fluctuating loads. Despite a limited match between solar production and hot water demand, resulting in low self-consumption rates (10.6 % in mid-season and 6.2 % in summer), the bidirectional setup enabled 94 % of the solar energy to be effectively utilized during the summer day. In line with the results obtained for the representative days, the annual extrapolation shows that the proposed configuration enables 78.4 % of the solar energy to be effectively utilized, with a self-sufficiency rate of 32.5 % and a self-consumption rate of 14.9 %. The proposed solution offers a replicable and efficient approach to support the integration of distributed renewable heat sources in existing district heating systems.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.126698

Journal article2025

Prosumers and district heating: Experimental validation of strategies to improve thermal energy production and consumption

Sdringola P, Pipiciello M, Ricci E, Gianaroli F, Menegon D, Trentin F, Turrin F, Di Pietra B

Diego Menegon, Mauro Pipiciello, Federico Trentin, Francesco Turrin

The European Union targets a 55 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050, emphasizing decarbonisation in energy sectors. District Heating Networks with thermal prosumers and bidirectional substations are critical to decarbonize the heating sector by integrating renewable energy sources. The paper analyses how to enhance the share of renewable energy sources used by a thermal prosumer. Various strategies, including heat pump integration, are experimentally studied to improve the prosumer’s energy self-consumption in a district heating network operating at two temperature levels (80/50 °C and 60/30 °C for supply and return), utilizing the hardware-in-the-loop technique to couple the substation in real-time with data-driven profiles for thermal loads (multi-family residential buildings) and production (solar panels). Energy flows are analysed for representative days and then extrapolated to calculate yearly results. The implemented strategies were found to be effective in terms of user’s self-sufficiency: the energy produced by solar panels and used to cover the thermal demand increased across all case studies i.e., from 8 % to 27 % for non-renovated buildings operating with high-temperature network, from 14 % to 26 % for renovated buildings with low-temperature network. The share of self-consumption increased from 13 % to 30 %, and from 10 % to 15 % respectively, and the production from renewable sources was enhanced (up to 39 %). With net metering, local energy surplus can be utilized beyond production periods, achieving 58 % self-consumption when integrating a heat pump. The results can support stakeholders in developing efficient district heating systems, particularly in the context of potential thermal energy communities

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.115713

Conference proceedings article2025

Retrofit design and numerical modeling of bidirectional substations for the empowerment of thermal prosumers in district heating networks

Gianaroli F, Ricci M, Sdringola P, Pipiciello M, Menegon D, Melino F

Diego Menegon, Mauro Pipiciello

The global energy landscape is undergoing a crucial transition towards renewable energy solutions, underlining the importance of decentralizing energy systems. This complex and long-term process has facilitated the emergence of energy communities, enabling a wide range of actors, including citizens, to actively participate in the energy transition. A key element of this transition is the role of prosumers, individuals who consume and produce energy from renewable sources. Thermal prosumers can be integrated into district heating networks through bidirectional thermal substations, allowing excess thermal energy – produced locally from renewable sources, such as solar thermal systems, or recovered from industrial processes – to be injected into the network.
In this framework, the study introduces a novel approach to adapt traditional district heating substations to bidirectional heat exchange devices, enabling prosumers to actively use thermal energy for their needs and contribute surplus energy to the network. Using an existing network in northern Italy as a case study, an optimized layout in a “supply-to-return” configuration is proposed. To evaluate the performance and potential of the proposed bidirectional device, a detailed numerical model of the substation was implemented in Dymola software for multi-domain simulation. The model was designed to analyze the system’s summer operation, with customized systems and control logics developed from standard library models to accurately reproduce the substation‘s behavior under specific conditions. The results showed that the bidirectional substation allows for the utilization of previously unused thermal potential, due to the mismatch between demand and production, and makes it available to the network, particularly on days with high solar irradiance. This innovative approach finally extends the concept of energy sharing to thermal energy flows, at the community level, opening up new opportunities for a more integrated and sustainable management of energy resources.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.46855/energy-proceedings-11467

Journal article2024

Assessment of the potential correlation between Smart Readiness Indicator and energy performance in a dataset of buildings in South Tyrol

Garzia F, Pernigotto G, Menegon D, Finozzi L, Klammsteiner U, Gasparella A

Diego Menegon, Federico Garzia

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive introduced the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI), a common European system for assessing buildings’ smart readiness. While not mandatory across the European Union, some countries have initiated trial phases, and several studies already examined its application in different Member States. In this work, we present the findings of an extensive application of the SRI methodology on a sample of 59 recently constructed or recently renovated high-performance buildings in South Tyrol, Italy. Our research focused on two main objectives: (1) characterizing the level of smart readiness of state-of-the-art modern buildings in the Italian Alpine region of South Tyrol, and (2) discussing the potential correlation between the level of smart readiness and building energy performance class. Specifically, the HVAC and building systems with the most widespread adoption of advanced smart technologies were identified, as well as those configurations with traditional control solutions suggesting potential for improvement. The analysis proved that the different building categories present various levels of smart readiness, which is higher for the local office buildings and lower for the residential ones. No particular correlation was found between smart readiness and energy performance class, suggesting the need of adopting the SRI to give a more comprehensive characterization of the building performances.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114623

Conference proceedings article2024

Empowering prosumers in district heating networks: Experimental analysis and performance evaluation of a bidirectional substation

Gianaroli F, Pipiciello M, Sdringola P, Trentin F, Ricci M, Di Pietra B, Menegon D, Melino F

Diego Menegon, Mauro Pipiciello, Federico Trentin

The European Union highlights the crucial role of district heating and cooling, prompting innovations for prosumer-driven energy communities. The significance of thermal prosumers lies in their ability to contribute to the district heating network by utilizing locally sourced energy from renewables or industrial processes, thereby reducing fossil fuel usage, and enhancing district heating sustainability. In this framework, the document outlines an innovative approach aimed at establishing a pre-commercial setup for retrofitting traditional substations in bidirectional substation for district heating networks. These devices allow prosumers to actively consume thermal energy for their internal needs and share any surplus to the network. Based on an existing network in northern Italy, an optimized layout is proposed in a “supply-to-return” configuration: it includes a heat exchanger at the interface between the end-user and the network, supplying space heating and domestic hot water through thermal storage, which can also be charged by the distributed generation system (i.e., solar panels). An additional heat exchanger is intended to feed the network with surplus energy locally produced. To assess the performance and advantages of the proposed setup, an extensive experimental campaign was conducted, modifying, and integrating a pre-existing substation prototype in real-time with data-driven thermal loads and production profiles using the hardware-in-the-loop technique. The results show that while the deployment of evacuated tube solar collectors may not have significantly impact in term of local selfconsumption in comparison to flat collectors due to energy demand disparities, it does offer a notable advantage in terms of energy fed into the network. This advantage is nearly 25 times greater than that of flat panels, particularly noticeable during winter days. This results in a significant advantage at the local level as well, enabling the achievement of 100% self-consumption when the DHN serves as thermal storage, especially during mid-season days. These findings underscore the effectiveness of evacuated tube collectors in maximizing energy utilization and reinforcing the role of bidirectional substations in promoting renewable energy integration within urban heating systems.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.52202/077185-0102

Journal article2024

The bidirectional substation for district heating users: experimental performance assessment with operational profiles of prosumer loads and distributed generation

Pipiciello M, Trentin F, Soppelsa A, Menegon D, Fedrizzi R, Ricci M, Di Pietra B, Sdringola P

Diego Menegon, Anton Soppelsa, Mauro Pipiciello, Federico Trentin

The regulatory European and national policies outline the role of efficient district heating in achieving mid and long-term decarbonization targets. Prosumers could be equipped with bidirectional exchange substations to increase the local production contribution. The present paper evaluates the contribution of a bidirectional substation in maximizing the use of thermal energy produced locally by renewable sources or waste heat in a densely populated area, considering the limitation due to the non-contemporaneity of production and consumption and possibilities to overcome them. The substation prototype and the control system were tested in operational conditions, assuming the district heating network operating at two temperature levels (80 °C/50 °C and 60 °C/30 °C for supply and return) and applying the hardware-in-the-loop technique for coupling the substation in real-time with data-driven thermal loads (multi-family residential building) and production (solar panels and waste heat) profiles. The various energy flows in the substation are presented for representative days, resulting in a district heating contribution to the user’s load ranging between 99.8 % (winter day) and 21.8 % (summer day). The net-metering mechanism was considered, and the assessment extended to the entire year. The local production contribution to the user’s load ranges between 24 % and 100 %, depending on the system configuration considered.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113872

Journal article2021

Labeling of Installed Heating Appliances in Residential Buildings: An Energy Labeling Methodology for Improving Consumers’ Awareness

Menegon D, Lobosco D, Micò L, Fernandes J

Diego Menegon

Progetto: EU H2020 HARP - Pianificazione del retrofit degli apparecchi di riscaldamento

In the EU 28, the installed heating appliance stock is quite old, with an actual replacement rate of 4%. This is directly reflected in the average efficiency of the installed heating systems, where around 60% of the stock is rated with an energy class of C or D (the lowest classes of the energy label scale). The European project HARP aims at raising consumers’ awareness of the planned replacement of their old and inefficient heating appliances with more efficient and renewable solutions. In this direction, an energy labeling methodology for old appliances has been developed to rate the installed stock before the introduction of the EU energy label. The methodology has been developed for space heating appliances and water heaters, targeting two types of users: end consumers and professional users. The validation considered about 4600 space heating appliances and 800 water heaters built between 1972 and 2019. Three heating appliances and two water heaters were tested in the laboratory, confirming the reliability of the proposed methodology. The expected impact of defining an energy labeling methodology for installed heating appliances increases the current replacement rate of these appliances in the EU from 4% to 5%

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.3390/en14217044

Journal article2020

Direct characterisation of the annual performance of solar thermal and heat pump systems using a six-day whole system test

Menegon D, Persson T, Haberl R, Bales C, Haller M

Diego Menegon

Systems that provide space heating and domestic hot water are characterized by dynamic operating conditions. For a reliable evaluation of the general system performance, dynamic system test procedures are a more reliable, more reproducible and faster way than using steady-state component test results in combination with annual system simulation or others extrapolation schemes. However, the utilization of dynamic whole system testing was so far hindered by the cost and time associated with the laboratory measurements, and by a lack of scientifically justified procedures for the determination of suitable test profiles.

This paper presents an analysis of the suitability of using a six-day sequence for the direct characterization of a solar and heat pump system. The new six-day sequence was developed to perform a benchmark test and its representativeness was verified with one-hundred different solar and heat pump system configurations.

It was found that some independent variables lead to a predictable deviation in the performance evaluation based on the six-day sequence compared to whole-year figures, that can be greatly reduced by simple correction factors. For the different configurations, the correction factors reduced the standard deviation of the energetic performance results to 2.5%.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.07.031

Journal article2017

Development of a new dynamic test procedure for the laboratory characterization of a whole heating and cooling system

Menegon D, Soppelsa A, Fedrizzi R

Diego Menegon, Anton Soppelsa

The performance of heating and cooling systems are affected by their dynamic operating conditions. As a consequence, a sound evaluation of system performance should be done through a dynamic test procedure. However, the complexity, the cost, and the time for such type of experimentation are obstacles to the diffusion of this test method.

A new whole system test procedure was developed to reduce its potential failure. The test method considers the emulation of system components that cannot be installed in the laboratory, while the selection of short-yet-significant test sequence is performed classifying the days of the year with clustering analysis.

The procedure was applied to a solar-assisted heat pump system in four different European climates. The seasonal performance figures are extrapolated from the test results and compared with the numerical simulations of the entire heating and cooling system. In all test cases the seasonal performance factors are lower than the simulated ones by approximately 10%. The results obtained with dynamic tests confirm the necessity of their implementation, since they provide useful information to improve the system layout and control. In this way, the manufacturers can introduce more efficient products into the market.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.120

Journal article2014

A new test procedure for the dynamic laboratory characterization of thermal systems and their components

Menegon D, Vittoriosi A, Fedrizzi R

Diego Menegon

The need for energy labelling procedures applied to thermal systems requires new methods to assess their seasonal performance. Their typical dynamic operation and the interaction among components and control system restrict the possible use of stationary, component-oriented tests. New dynamic test methods addressing the system as a whole are now available in the open literature. Discussion is undergoing with respect to key issues such as test sequence definition and post-processing of the test results. A new dynamic procedure was developed to address these points, based on the statistical selection of the test boundary conditions. The paper describes the procedure and its first validation at component level. The results of the dynamic test were compared with the values obtained for the entire season operation, showing a good agreement both in terms of seasonal performance figures and of instantaneous distributions of the performance indicators. The promising results obtained so far to motivate the application of the procedure to other components and a future adaption to test whole systems. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.07.085

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Conference proceedings article2024

Empowering prosumers in district heating networks: Experimental analysis and performance evaluation of a bidirectional substation

Gianaroli F, Pipiciello M, Sdringola P, Trentin F, Ricci M, Di Pietra B, Menegon D, Melino F

Diego Menegon, Mauro Pipiciello, Federico Trentin

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.52202/077185-0102

Diego Menegon

About

Scientific Publications

Innovative approach and numerical modeling to retrofit existing substations for bidirectional operation: Enabling thermal prosumer participation in District Heating Network

Prosumers and district heating: Experimental validation of strategies to improve thermal energy production and consumption

Retrofit design and numerical modeling of bidirectional substations for the empowerment of thermal prosumers in district heating networks

Assessment of the potential correlation between Smart Readiness Indicator and energy performance in a dataset of buildings in South Tyrol

Empowering prosumers in district heating networks: Experimental analysis and performance evaluation of a bidirectional substation

The bidirectional substation for district heating users: experimental performance assessment with operational profiles of prosumer loads and distributed generation

Labeling of Installed Heating Appliances in Residential Buildings: An Energy Labeling Methodology for Improving Consumers’ Awareness

Direct characterisation of the annual performance of solar thermal and heat pump systems using a six-day whole system test

Development of a new dynamic test procedure for the laboratory characterization of a whole heating and cooling system

A new test procedure for the dynamic laboratory characterization of thermal systems and their components

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Scientific Publications

Innovative approach and numerical modeling to retrofit existing substations for bidirectional operation: Enabling thermal prosumer participation in District Heating Network

Prosumers and district heating: Experimental validation of strategies to improve thermal energy production and consumption

Retrofit design and numerical modeling of bidirectional substations for the empowerment of thermal prosumers in district heating networks

Assessment of the potential correlation between Smart Readiness Indicator and energy performance in a dataset of buildings in South Tyrol

Empowering prosumers in district heating networks: Experimental analysis and performance evaluation of a bidirectional substation

The bidirectional substation for district heating users: experimental performance assessment with operational profiles of prosumer loads and distributed generation

Labeling of Installed Heating Appliances in Residential Buildings: An Energy Labeling Methodology for Improving Consumers’ Awareness

Direct characterisation of the annual performance of solar thermal and heat pump systems using a six-day whole system test

Development of a new dynamic test procedure for the laboratory characterization of a whole heating and cooling system

A new test procedure for the dynamic laboratory characterization of thermal systems and their components