Library of price and performance data of domestic and commercial technologies for low-carbon energy systems

This library consists of extensive price and performance data of commercially available technologies for low-carbon energy systems on the UK market, including domestic and commercial applications. All information is obtained from published manufacturer datasheets and pricelists. The library contains useful information for energy-system and technology modellers in their efforts to capture the techno-economic characteristics of different technology options, minimise uncertainties and suggest reliable system- and technology-design strategies.

The data analysis shows how technology characteristics vary with component choice, technology size and to capture the spread of values found between different suppliers, which can be used to determine uncertainty bounds on key performance indicators. Fitting techniques can be used to determine relationships arising from the collected data, infer values for which data are not available and quantify the related variability in technology characteristics.

This work was conducted by members of the Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory and is part of Project 2 of the Integrated Development of Low-Carbon Energy Systems (IDLES) project. IDLES brings together researchers across Imperial College London and partner organisations and companies to provide the evidence needed to facilitate a cost-effective and secure transition to a low-carbon future. The overarching aim of Project 2 is: (i) to characterise current and new/future technologies in terms of cost and performance to provide evidence for whole-energy system modelling; and (ii) to extend the capabilities of whole-energy-system models so that they can, apart from optimising energy network infrastructures, provide information to manufacturers about the optimal choice of materials, components and the design of key technologies.

The library will be updated regularly as more data regarding existing and new technologies are collected.