Manufacturing Scale-Up for Combined Heating and Hot Water Thermal Battery System
Harvest Thermal, Inc.
Recipient
Recipient Location
7th
Senate District
14th
Assembly District
$26,151
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
Harvest Thermal combines a smart controller and all-electric components to heat your home and water. The system converts an ordinary water tank into a thermal battery, delivering space heating and hot water whenever it’s needed, using the cleanest and cheapest electricity. The Harvest Pod orchestrates the operation of already highly efficient systems and manages these systems for peak performance. Under this agreement, the recipient will develop and demonstrate manufacturing capabilities that achieve low-rate initial production levels, advancing from their current pilot-scale production tools and processes..
The project kicked off in August 2024 and has since made progress in identifying, purchasing, and installing all necessary equipment for the production line to achieve production cost, throughput, and quality that support the market demand for the Harvest Pod. Activities include 1.) evaluating the needed cycle time, layout, and efficiencies, 2.) developing the initial needed processes, testing, yield, and margin requirements, 3.) confirming key tooling and equipment needed, and 4.) creating preliminary station designs, concepts, and concept prototypes. The project team plans to continue this work to be able to demonstrate low-rate initial production at the specified throughput and quality levels.
The Issue
Heating, hot water, and cooling represent the top three energy uses in California households, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Electric HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) solutions are the best technology for meeting our climate goals, but the options commercially available have limitations: they often operate at peak demand times, and they do not reduce operating costs sufficiently compared to gas to create a compelling life cycle cost value proposition. Reliance on these market solutions will cause the state to overbuild renewable energy generation and storage in an effort to meet its goals. There is no known technology available today that achieves the Harvest system GHG reduction while optimizing the use of grid electricity outside of peak usage/demand.
Project Innovation
To enable the large-scale transition to lower emissions solutions, the Recipient has developed a smart controller for a home heating, cooling, and hot water system that has near-zero emissions (including emissions from power generation), pollutes significantly less than competing technology, is affordable to install and operate, and is suitable for new homes and retrofits.
The product at the heart of the system is an appliance -the “Harvest Pod”- developed and built by Harvest Thermal. Incorporating electronic and physical flow controls, the Harvest Pod controls off-the-shelf equipment (heat pump, water tank and air handler) to deliver space conditioning and hot water. Using the tank as a thermal battery, the Pod shifts the majority of a home’s electric load to non-peak times. Users benefit from lower costs and society benefits from reduced GHG emissions and improved flexibility in grid management to allow a greater shift to renewables while mitigating peak loads.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
This Agreement will result in the ratepayer benefits of greater electricity reliability, lower costs, and increased safety, by enabling the low volume ramp of the Harvest Thermal technology which costs less to install and operate than conventional gas and heat pump solutions
Economic Development
Reducing energy costs frees up disposable income, supporting local economies. The overall affordability of the solution enables higher uptake and an accelerated replacement cycle, driving more local installation jobs.
Environmental Sustainability
By optimizing the system for efficiency and decoupling the time of electricity purchase from the use of space conditioning and hot water, the system uses electricity when it is the lowest cost and cleanest, resulting in emissions reductions of 80-90% for most homes.
Consumer Appeal
Occupants can enjoy the system's comfort and affordability without having to actively manage the Harvest Pod or change behavior. The system will incorporate Internet of Things capabilities, providing users with full control, data, and charts.
Reliability
The ability to shift the full heating and hot water load of homes to off-peak times enables the state to achieve its renewable energy and resilience goals at a lower cost than with conventional heat pump systems.
Key Project Members
Evan Green
Subrecipients
GainShare Solutions
Right Brain Electronics
ALS Group USA, Corp. (dba Columbia Analytical Services, Inc.)
Match Partners
Sgs North America Inc.
Harvest Thermal, Inc.
GainShare Solutions
Sonic Manufacturing Technologies
