Overview · Features · Documentation · Workflow · Quick start · Fundamentals · Examples · FAQ · Installation · Demo
EPOS-Plan – energy planning software
EPOS-Plan is planning software for the integrated design of heating and power supply systems. It models an entire energy system in a single project – heat demand of buildings, domestic hot water and industrial processes, electricity demand, generation technology from heat pumps, boilers, CHP units and solar thermal collectors through to photovoltaics, plus thermal and electrical storage – and simulates a complete year: 8,760 hourly values on the heat side and 35,040 quarter-hourly values on the electricity side.
The name stands for Energy, Planning, Optimisation and Simulation. EPOS-Plan is developed and maintained by INEKON – Intelligente Energiekonzepte, Stuttgart, Germany. This English section mirrors the German pages; the software itself can be switched between German and English in the main menu.
Where to start
Features gives the overview of what the software does. Quick start walks through a complete project in ten steps. Documentation describes every module in detail, Program workflow follows the working sequence step by step, and Fundamentals explains the engineering behind the calculations, including hydraulic schematics. Examples shows worked application cases from a single-family house to a district heating network.
Industry and commerce
EPOS-Plan is not limited to residential buildings. Commercial and industrial objects are modelled with hall heating, process heat at several temperature levels and the measured electricity load profile – which makes visible how much of the heat supply can be electrified. Halls, workshops, warehouses and office wings are recorded with shift times, shutdown periods, the increased air change caused by doors and extraction systems and the internal gains from machinery. Process heat is recorded per process and temperature level, with the weekly profile acting as the shift schedule; waste heat from refrigeration, compressed air or production can be used as the heat source of a heat pump. On the electricity side the measured quarter-hourly load profile answers the questions that matter: self-consumption of a PV system, the effect of electrification on the grid connection capacity and the case for electricity-led CHP operation.
Typical applications are a bakery, where waste heat from ovens and refrigeration supplies hot water and hall heating; a laundry with high, steady demand from washing and drying – the classic case for a CHP unit with high full-load hours; electroplating and metalworking, where heated baths at 50 to 70 °C form a constant base load for the heat pump while hardening and drying stay with the boiler; plastics processing, where waste heat from injection moulding at 35 to 45 °C is a particularly efficient source; painting and drying with supply air heating in shift operation; and warehousing and logistics with large roof areas and low heat load, where photovoltaics and storage take centre stage. The systematic approach is described in the Documentation, worked cases under Examples.
Getting the software
A free demo version is available on request – see Demo version. Technical prerequisites are listed under System requirements, the installation procedure under Installation and update. Answers to the most frequent questions are collected in the FAQ; the release history is documented in the Update log.
About the company
EPOS-Plan is sponsored, developed and distributed by INEKON – Intelligente Energiekonzepte. Details are given under Company and History.