Operation at an electrical base load for a commercial building climate control system

The climate control system optimizes electrical load distribution by using a TES arrangement and controller to adjust cold water set operations, addressing inefficiencies in commercial building climate control systems and enabling efficient use of reserved capacity.

DE202025102324U1Active Publication Date: 2025-07-10TRANE INTERNATIONAL INC
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Patent Information

Application Number
DE202025102324
Authority / Receiving Office
DE · DE
Patent Type
Utility models
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2024-05-08
Filing Date
2025-04-29
Publication Date
2025-07-10
Estimated Expiration
2035-04-30

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Commercial buildings face significant electrical load fluctuations in climate control systems, particularly with room climate control being a major component, leading to unused reserved capacity during non-peak times, which could be monetized or utilized more efficiently.

Method used

A climate control system incorporating a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement with heat exchangers upstream of cold water sets, supplemented by a controller to adjust the operation of cold water sets and distribute low temperature fluid from TES, optimizing electrical load distribution throughout the day.

Benefits of technology

The system effectively flattens electrical demand, allowing unused capacity to be utilized for other purposes, reducing overall electrical load requirements and enabling additional revenue generation.

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Abstract

Climate control system for air conditioning an interior space, the climate control system comprising: an interior heat exchange circuit configured to circulate a working fluid to cool an air flow directed toward the interior; a chiller arranged to cool the working fluid; and a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement comprising: a source of a low-temperature fluid; and a heat exchanger coupled to the indoor heat exchange circuit such that the heat exchanger is located upstream of the chiller along the indoor heat exchange circuit, the heat exchanger being configured to receive a flow of the low-temperature fluid from the source to cool the working fluid to thereby supplement an output cooling capacity of the chiller.
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Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO PRIOR ART APPLICATIONSAbsent.GENERAL STATE OF THE ARTCommercial buildings such as office buildings, retail stores, data centers, or others may draw large amounts of electrical energy from the local power grid. Thus, building owners and / or operators (collectively referred to herein as "building operators") are often interested in reducing the overall electrical load of the building to reduce operating costs. Room climate control is typically an important component (if not the largest component) of the total electrical energy requirement in a commercial building. Thus, the design and operation of the climate control system of a building can contribute significantly to reducing the electrical footprint of the building.SUMMARYSome embodiments disclosed herein relate to a climate control system for air conditioning an interior space. In some embodiments, the climate control system includes an interior heat exchange circuit configured to circulate a working fluid to cool an airflow directed toward the interior. Moreover, the climate control system comprises a cold water set configured to cool the working fluid. Further, the climate control system includes a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement further including a source of low temperature fluid and a heat exchanger coupled to the indoor heat exchange circuit such that the heat exchanger is located upstream of the cold water set along the indoor heat exchange circuit. The heat exchanger is configured to receive a stream of the low temperature fluid from the source to cool the working fluid, thereby supplementing an output cooling capacity of the cold water set.In some embodiments, the climate control system includes an interior heat exchange circuit configured to circulate a working fluid to cool an airflow directed toward the interior. Moreover, the climate control system comprises a plurality of cold water sets configured to cool the working fluid. Furthermore, the climate control system has a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement that is thermally coupled to the indoor heat exchange circuit via a plurality of heat exchangers arranged along the indoor heat exchange circuit. Further, the climate control system includes a controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of cold water sets and the TES assembly. The controller is configured to adjust an output cooling capacity of the plurality of cold water sets and adjust a distribution of a cooling capacity from the TES arrangement to maintain an electrical load of the climate control system at or below a baseline electrical load.Some examples disclosed herein, which are not part of the present invention, relate to an example method of operating a climate control system for a building. In some examples, the example method that is not part of the present invention includes (a) receiving weather data for an incoming day for a geographic area in which the building is located. In addition, the example method includes (b) determining the total cooling capacity available from a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement of the climate control system. Further, the example method includes (c) determining a base electrical load to operate the climate control system based at least on the weather data and the total cooling capacity available from the TES arrangement. Further, the example method includes (d) determining an output cooling capacity of a plurality of cold water sets of the climate control system and a distribution of a cooling capacity from the TES arrangement configured to meet a cooling demand of the building at an electrical load of the climate control system that is at or below the base electrical load.Embodiments described herein include a combination of features and characteristics that are intended to address various deficiencies of certain prior devices and systems. The features and technical characteristics of the disclosed embodiments have been outlined rather broadly above in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. The various features and characteristics described above, as well as others, will be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description and with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be appreciated that this disclosure may be readily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes as the disclosed embodiments. It should also be understood that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the principles disclosed herein.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFor a detailed description of various embodiments, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a climate control system including an arrangement for storing thermal energy according to some embodiments disclosed herein; FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a cold water set of the climate control system of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments disclosed herein; FIG. 3 is a table showing the electrical load received from one of the cold water sets of the climate control system of FIG. 1 based on the output cooling capacity and the outdoor temperature, in accordance with some embodiments disclosed herein; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing example electrical loads received by the climate control system of FIG. 1 per unit time during a peak period of an example day, in accordance with some embodiments disclosed herein; FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of a climate control system including an arrangement for storing thermal energy according to some embodiments disclosed herein; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing example electrical loads received by the climate control system of FIG. 5 per unit time during an example day, in accordance with some embodiments disclosed herein; and FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of operating a climate control system for a building that does not form part of the present invention.DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe climate control system of a commercial building may be an important (or even the largest) component of the electrical load of the building. Thus, the design and operation of the climate control system of a building can significantly impact the overall electrical load demand for the building. Moreover, the demand for electrical load of a climate control system may vary significantly during a 24 hour period and generally resemble a sine curve, with a maximum or peak load (for cooling) typically occurring at some late afternoon and a minimum load (again for cooling) typically occurring in the early morning hours. A building operator must therefore maintain sufficient electrical load capacity to operate the climate control system during the peak load time. However, this results in a considerable amount of unused reserved electrical load capacity during the other times of day that could otherwise be made money (e.g., by selling electrical load capacity to one or more rentals or users of the commercial building). Moreover, a building operator may reserve sufficient electrical load capacity to operate the climate control system during a worst case peak temperature over a past time period (e.g., twenty years in some cases). As a result, on an average day (when the peak temperatures are substantially lower than the worst case peak temperature), the unused and reserved electrical load capacity for the climate control system is even greater.Thus, the embodiments disclosed herein include systems for configuring and operating a climate control system that aim to release this unused electrical load capacity so that it can be moneyed or otherwise utilized by the building operator. For example, embodiments of the system disclosed herein may be configured to substantially flatten the demand for electrical load for the climate control system over a 24 hour period, thereby releasing the electrical load normally reserved for peak times. Through the use of the embodiments disclosed herein, a building operator may reduce the total electrical load that must be reserved for operation of the climate control system of the building, and this additional electrical load capacity may be further monetaricized or used for other purposes.Referring now to FIG. 1, a climate control system 10 is shown having a thermal energy storage (TES) (or simply "TES" 60) arrangement 60 in accordance with some embodiments disclosed herein. Climate control system 10 may be configured to cool one or more interior spaces of a commercial building 12 (or simply "building" 12) during operation. In particular, the climate control system 10 may include one or more (e.g., one or a plurality) cold water sets 15 configured to cool a working fluid 54 circulating along an indoor heat exchange circuit 50 between the cold water sets 15 and an indoor heat exchange assembly 52. The cold water sets 15 may be arranged in parallel along the indoor heat exchange circuit 50; however, other arrangements are also conceivable. The working fluid 54 may comprise water or a suitable aqueous mixture (e.g., water glycol). In some embodiments, the working fluid 54 may comprise a fluid other than water, such as air (e.g., air directly supplied to the conditioned space). The conditioned space heat exchange assembly 52 may include one or more heat exchangers (e.g., air conditioning units) configured to exchange heat between the working fluid 54 and an airflow supplied to the interior / spaces within the building 12.Each of the cold water sets 15 may be configured to cool the working fluid 54 via one or more cooling circuits. For example, reference is made to FIG. 2, which shows a general schematic illustration of one of the cold water sets 15 of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments (assuming that each of the other cold water sets 15 in FIG. 1 may be configured the same as or similar to that shown in FIG. 2 in some embodiments).Generally speaking, each cold water set 15 includes a cooling circuit 20 configured to circulate a coolant to exchange heat between the interior / spaces of the building 12 and an environment (e.g., the exterior environment surrounding the building 12) to cool the interior / spaces. The cooling circuit may include a first heat exchanger 22 and a second heat exchanger 24. The first heat exchanger 22 is configured to exchange heat between the coolant and a working fluid 44 of an ambient heat exchange circuit 40, and the second heat exchanger 24 is configured to exchange heat between the coolant and the working fluid 54 of the indoor heat exchange circuit 50.The working fluid 44 may comprise water or another suitable aqueous mixture as already described above for the working fluid 54. Alternatively, the working fluid 44 may comprise air. When the working fluid 44 is water, the cold water set 15 may be referred to as a "water cooled" cold water set, and when the working fluid is air, the cold water set 15 may be referred to as an "air cooled" cold water set. Independently, the working fluid 44 may circulate between the first heat exchanger 22 of the cooling assembly 20 and an ambient heat exchanger assembly 42 to exchange heat between the coolant and the ambient. In some arrangements, the ambient heat exchange assembly 42 includes one or more heat exchangers (e.g., water cooling towers, radiators, cooling fins, etc.) configured to transfer heat between the environment and the working fluid 44. In some embodiments, such as in cold water cooled sets, the ambient heat exchange assembly 42 may be integrated with and combined with the first heat exchanger 22 such that heat is exchanged directly between the coolant and an air stream taken from and recirculated to the environment. Additionally, in some embodiments, such as in the case of water cooled cold water sets, the heat exchange assembly 42 may be shared and integrated for all cold water sets 15 of the climate control system 10 (e.g., such that the first heat exchangers 22 of the individual cold water sets 15 are fluidly coupled in parallel via a common ambient heat exchange circuit 40).In addition to the first heat exchanger 22 and the second heat exchanger 24, the cooling circuit 20 may include a compressor 26 (or, in some embodiments, one or more compressors 26) and an expansion valve 30. The compressor 26 and the expansion valve 30 may be in fluid communication with the first heat exchanger 22 and the second heat exchanger 24 along the cooling circuit 20. During operation, the cooling circuit 20 may be operated such that the coolant circulates in a first direction shown in FIG. 2 to transfer heat from the interior (e.g., via the interior heat exchange circuit 50) to the environment (e.g., via the environment heat exchange circuit 40). Such operation may be referred to herein as a "cooling mode.".In particular, in the cooling mode operation shown in FIG. 2, the coolant (which may be in a steam or half steam state) may be compressed by the compressor 26 and delivered to the first heat exchanger 22 via the coolant circuit 20. In the first heat exchanger 22, heat is transferred from the coolant to the fluid 44, which cools the coolant and at least partially condenses into a liquid. Thus, the first heat exchanger 22 may be referred to as a "condenser" in the cooling mode operation of FIG. 2. The heat is then transferred from the heated working fluid 44 to the environment via the ambient heat exchange assembly 42 of the ambient heat exchange circuit 40, as previously described.The condensed refrigerant is then discharged from the first heat exchanger 22 and flows to the second heat exchanger 24 via the expansion valve 30, and the expansion valve 30 may be positioned between the first heat exchanger 22 and the second heat exchanger 24 along the refrigerant circuit 20. The expansion valve 30 can be operated to controllably expand and thereby cool the refrigerant upstream of the second heat exchanger 24.The expanded and cooled coolant then flows to the second heat exchanger 24 Within the second heat exchanger 24, heat is transferred from the working fluid 54 to the coolant, thereby evaporating (or at least partially evaporating) the coolant. Thus, the second heat exchanger 24 may be referred to as an "evaporator" in the cooling mode operation of FIG. 1. The cooled working fluid 54 is then used to cool the interior / rooms of the building 12 via the conditioned space heat exchange assembly 52 of the interior heat exchange circuit 50, as previously described.In some embodiments not shown, the coolant circuit 20 may circulate the coolant in a second, opposite direction than that shown in FIG. 2 to transfer heat from the environment to the interior / rooms of the building 12 via the environment heat exchange circuit 40 and the interior heat exchange circuit 50. Such operation may be referred to herein as "heating mode" operation, and a cooling arrangement 20 configured for operation in heating mode may be referred to as a "heat pump.". During a heating mode operation of the refrigeration cycle 20, the first heat exchanger 22 may function as an "evaporator" (which evaporates the refrigerant) and the second heat exchanger 24 may function as a "condenser" (which condenses the refrigerant).The operation of the cold water set 15 may be adjusted to provide different output cooling (or heating) capacities for the working fluid 54 during operation. In particular, the mass flow rate of the coolant flowing along the coolant circuit 20 may be adjusted (e.g., via adjustments to the operating speed of the compressor 26 and corresponding adjustments to the opening position of the expansion valve 30), thereby changing the rate of thermal heat transfer between the coolant and the working fluid 54 during operation. In some embodiments, the cold water set 15 may be operated with a lower output cooling capacity (e.g., by decreasing the speed of the compressor 26) when the cooling requirement of the interior / rooms of the building 12 is lower, such as at times outside the peak load.Referring again to FIG. 1, the TES 60 is configured to supplement the output cooling capacity of the cold water sets 15 by heat transfer with the working fluid 54 via one or more (e.g., one or a plurality) heat exchangers 62. In particular, the TES 60 may be configured to supply to the heat exchangers 62 a low temperature fluid 64 that performs additional heat exchange with the working fluid 54 of the indoor heat exchange circuit 50, so as to reduce the cooling requirement of the cold water sets 15 during operation.The heat exchangers 62 may each be positioned upstream of the cold water sets 15 such that the heat exchangers 62 may be arranged in parallel along the indoor heat exchange circuit 50. In particular, each heat exchanger 62 may be positioned upstream of a respective one of the cold water sets 15 such that, during operation, the working fluid 54 may initially flow through one of the heat exchangers 62 before flowing through the respective cold water set 15, and the number of heat exchangers 62 may be equal to (or possibly less than) the number of cold water sets 15. Additionally, a plurality of valves 66 may be positioned between the TES 60 and the heat exchangers 62, which may selectively control the flow of the low temperature fluid 64 from the TES 60 to each of the heat exchangers 62 during operation. In addition, one or more pumps or other pressurizing devices (not specifically shown) may be used to facilitate the flow of the low temperature fluid 64 to the heat exchangers 62 via the valves 66 during operation.The low temperature fluid 64 may comprise water or a suitable aqueous mixture (e.g., water glycol). In some embodiments, the low temperature fluid 64 may comprise a fluid other than water, such as air. The low temperature fluid 64 is referred to as a "low temperature" because the temperature of the fluid 64 may be low enough to facilitate heat transfer from the working fluid 54 to the low temperature fluid 64 via the heat exchangers 62.During operation, the TES 60 may supply additional cold (or heat) to the working fluid 54 via the low temperature fluid 64 and the heat exchangers 62 to reduce the total electrical load absorbed by the cold water sets 15. The TES 60 may comprise any device or system configured to store additional heating or cooling capacity that may be selectively provided to the working fluid 54 via the low temperature fluid 64 and the heat exchangers 62 during operation. In some embodiments, the TES 60 may include, for example, (a) cold water tank(s), volumes of phase change materials (e.g., ice, wax, etc.), or other heat absorbing materials, (a) cool / warm fluid source(s) such as water cooling towers circulating collected rainwater, geothermal wells, liquid nitrogen (N 2) or liquid carbon dioxide (CO 2).In some embodiments, valves 66 may be actuated to selectively supply the low temperature fluid 64 to selected ones of the heat exchangers 62 to enable selective additional heat exchange with the working fluid 54 and thereby efficiently and effectively reduce an overall electrical load received from the climate control system 10 while avoiding a reduction in cooling capacity provided thereby during operation. In particular, during operation, a controller 120 may be used to selectively adjust an operating level of each of the cold water sets 15 and collectively adjust the distribution of the low temperature fluid 64 to the heat exchangers 62 to provide a desired cooling capacity for the interior / rooms of the building 12 via the interior heat exchange circuit 50 while achieving and maintaining a substantially optimized electrical performance of the climate control system 10. These settings by the controller 120 may cause the total electrical demand of the climate control system 10 to be flattened over a period of time (e.g., a 24 hour period) so that the building owner may release additional electrical capacity for the building 12 (which, as set forth herein, may be monetaricated or otherwise utilized more efficiently).The controller 120 may be a master controller for the climate control system 10 (or may be incorporated therein), or the controller 120 may be a stand-alone controller 120 for controlling the operating stage(s) of the cold water sets 15 and / or the distribution of the low temperature fluid 64 to and from the TES 60 during operation. Regardless, the controller 120 may be described and referred to herein as part of the climate control system 10.The controller 120 may include one or more computing devices, such as a computer, a tablet, a smartphone, a server, a circuit board, or other computing device(s) or system(s)(s). Thus, the controller 120 may include a processor 122 and a memory 124.The processor 122 may include any suitable processing device or collection of processing devices. In some embodiments, processor 122 may include a microcontroller, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a timing controller (TCON), a scaling unit, or a combination thereof. During operation, the processor 122 executes machine readable instructions (such as machine readable instructions 126) stored in the memory 124, causing the processor 122 to perform some or all of the operations attributed herein to the controller 120. Generally, the processor 122 fetches, decodes, and executes instructions (e.g., machine readable instructions 126). In addition, processor 122 may also perform other operations, such as making determinations, detecting conditions or values, etc., and communicating signals. If the processor 122 assists another component in performing a function, it may be said that the processor 122 causes the component to perform the function.The memory 124 may comprise any suitable device or collection of devices for storing digital information including data and machine readable instructions (such as machine readable instructions 126). The memory 124 may include, for example, volatile memory (such as random access memory (RAM)), nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory, read only memory (ROM), etc.), or a combination of volatile and nonvolatile memory. The data read or written by the processor 122 during execution of machine readable instructions 126 may also be stored in the memory 124. The memory 124 may include a "non-transitory machine-readable medium," where the term "non-transitory" does not include or include transitory transmission signals.The processor 122 may include one or more processing devices distributed within (or communicatively coupled to) the controller 120, or more generally within the climate control system 10. Similarly, the memory 124 may include one or more memory devices distributed within (or communicatively coupled to) the controller 120, or more generally, within the climate control system 10. Thus, the controller 120 may include multiple individual "controllers" distributed throughout the climate control system 10.As previously described, the controller 120 may be used to selectively adjust an operating level of each of the cold water sets 15 and collectively adjust the distribution of the low temperature fluid 64 to the heat exchangers 62 to provide a desired cooling capacity for the interior / rooms of the building 12 via working fluid 54 while achieving and maintaining a substantially optimized electrical load for the climate control system 10. In particular, as will be described in more detail herein, it has been found that each cold water set 15 may have a non-linearly varying efficiency over a range of operating levels at given external temperatures, such that a simple, even reduction in the operating level of the cold water sets 15 does not necessarily result in an optimum operating efficiency (in terms of electrical load) for the climate control system 10. Thus, the controller 120 may optimize usage of the electrical load of the climate control system 10 by operating selected combinations of the cold water sets 15 (e.g., one or more or all) at selected operating levels and simultaneously distributing low temperature fluid 64 from the TES 60 based on the non-linearly variable operating efficiency of the cold water sets 15 and the exterior temperatures of the environment of the building 12.Referring to FIG. 3, a table 32 shows the electrical load received from one of the cold water sets 15 of the climate control system 10 (FIG. 1 ) based on the output cooling capacity and the outdoor temperature, in accordance with some embodiments. The table 32 may be representative of the electrical load received from a particular one of the cold water sets 15, and thus each cold water set 15 may have a similar (but unique) table 32 that may be used by the controller 120 to adjust an output cooling capacity of the cold water sets 15 and / or the distribution of the low temperature fluid 64 from the TES 60 (FIG. 1 ) during operation.The output cooling capacity of the cold water set 15 associated with the table 32 may include a total heat energy transfer rate (e.g., in "tons", i.e., British Thermal Units (BTU) per hour) that the cold water set 15 may provide to the working fluid 54 (FIG. 1 ) at a particular operating speed of the corresponding compressor 26 (FIG. 2 ). The output cooling capacity may be represented in Table 32 as a percentage of the maximum output cooling capacity that may be provided by the cold water set 15. However, in some embodiments, the output cooling capacity of the cold water set 15 associated with the table 32 may be represented in a variety of ways, such as directly in tons (or other suitable units for a thermal energy transfer rate).The outdoor temperature may be a temperature of the outdoor environment of the building 12. The range of 78°F to 96°F is exemplified in 2° steps in Table 32; however, any suitable temperature range (and gradation) may be represented. In some embodiments, the temperature range included in table 32 may be based on, for example, the typical temperature range that prevails in the geographic area where building 12 is located.As indicated in the table 32 of FIG. 3, the cold water set 15 may include electrical loads A 10, B 10, C 10,... J10 (e.g., in kilowatts (KW)) if the cold water set 15 is used at 10%, 20%, 30%,... 100% of the maximum cooling power is operated at an external temperature of 96° F. The electrical loads A 10, B 10, C 10,... J 10 may generally increase with the output cooling capacity of the cold water set 15; the increase of the electrical loads A 10, B 10, C 10,... However, J 10may be non-linear. Thus, the difference between the electrical loads A 10 and B 10 may be different from the difference between the electrical loads B 10 and C 10, or between the electrical loads C 10 and D 10, etc.Moreover, the operating efficiency of the cold water set 15 associated with the table 32 (in terms of electric power consumption) may differ at different output cooling capacities and external temperatures. In particular, the operating efficiency of the cold water set 15 associated with the table 32 may be represented as the units of electrical load (e.g., in HC or other suitable units) per ton (or other suitable unit) of the output cooling capacity using the table 32 provided by the cold water set 15. The changes in this operating efficiency in the table 32 for a particular outdoor temperature may be non-linear due, at least in part, to the non-linear differences in the electrical load that the cold water set receives at different output cooling capacities, as described above.For example, in some embodiments, the cold water set 15 associated with table 32 may be configured to provide a maximum output cooling capacity of about 600 tons (e.g., at 100% output cooling capacity in table 32), and the values for the electrical load J10, I10, and H10may correspond to about 650 KW, 513 KW, and 473 KW, respectively. Thus, in this particular example, for the cold water set 15 associated with table 32, operation at 100% of the maximum output cooling capacity may require an electrical load of about 1.084 KW per ton of cooling capacity, operation at 90% of the maximum output cooling capacity may require an electrical load of about 0.949 KW per ton of cooling capacity, and operation at 80% of the maximum output cooling capacity may require an electrical load of about 0.986 KW per ton of cooling capacity. These exemplary differences in operating efficiency between 100%, 90% and 80% of the output cooling capacity for the cold water set 15 (expressed in HC electrical load per ton of output cooling capacity) are non-linear and even show a more surprising increase between operating at 90% output cooling capacity (at about 0.949 HC / ton) and operating at 80% output cooling capacity (at about 0.986 HC / ton), while normally one would expect the operating efficiency to decrease as the output cooling capacity decreases. Without being limited to this or other theory, it is believed that the cause of these non-linearities of the cold water sets 15 lies in the various unique characteristics and deviations of the cold water sets 15 (which may result from manufacturing tolerances, installation parameters, operating experience, or other factors).Thus, during operation, the controller 120 may selectively operate combinations of the cold water sets 15 with different output cooling capacities based on the data contained in the table 32 associated with each cold water set 15 to establish an optimal balance between the cooling capacity and the received electrical load. In particular, the controller 120 may be configured to determine a combination of cold water sets 15 that are operated to provide selected output cooling capacities to satisfy a desired cooling demand (which may be based on the outdoor temperature) while minimizing the overall HC electrical load per ton of output cooling capacity during operation. The use of the specific and unique data of table 32 may allow controller 120 to account for the non-linearly varying characteristics and performances of cold water sets 15.In some embodiments, the data (e.g., the electrical load data) in the table 32 may be calculated based first on one or more parameters of the cold water set 15. However, during operation of the climate control system 10, the values in the table 32 may be replaced (e.g., by the controller 120) with updated values based on the actual performance of the cold water set 15 in the installed state. Thus, over time, the controller 120 may adjust the operating parameters of the cold water sets 15 based on their individual performance within the climate control system 10 over the range of outdoor temperatures to which the building 12 is exposed. In some embodiments, the table / s 32 (or data indicative thereof) may be / may be at least partially stored in the memory 124 of the controller 120.FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram 70 showing example electrical loads received by the climate control system 10 per unit time during a peak period 71 of an example day, in accordance with some embodiments. The "peak period" 71 may refer to the period of the day that the temperatures are generally warmest and that may begin late morning (or late morning) and late afternoon (during early afternoon hours). The peak period 71 may in particular comprise the part of the day during which the temperatures increase above a threshold value. The outside temperature during the peak period 71 may resemble a portion of a sine curve that gradually increases to a peak temperature occurring at a peak temperature time 75 (e.g., midnoon in some cases) and then smoothly decreases from the peak temperature.The diagram 70 in FIG. 4 shows data sets 72, 74 of the electrical loads received from the climate control system 10 in operation to achieve the desired output cooling capacity for the interior / rooms of the building 12. In particular, the data sets shown in the diagram 70 of FIG. 4 include a first data set 72 that shows the electrical load received per unit time by the climate control system 10 when only the cold water sets 15 are used to meet the output cooling demand for the building 12, and a second data set 74 that shows the electrical load received per unit time by the climate control system 10 when both the cold water sets 15 and the TES 60 are used to meet the output cooling demand for the building 12 based on the non-linear operating efficiency of the cold water sets 15 according to the embodiments disclosed herein.As can be seen from the data sets 72, 74 shown in FIG. 4, in the first data set 72 (when the cold water sets 15 are used alone to meet the cooling requirement of the building 12), the electrical load received by the climate control system 10 increases along with the outside temperature during the peak period 71 and thus also resembles a sine curve with a peak electrical load 78 occurring at (or around) the time of the peak temperature 75 and periods of increasing and decreasing electrical load before and after the time of the peak temperature 75, respectively. Conversely, when the climate control system 10 is operated such that the cooling requirement of the building 12 is met by using selected combinations of the cold water sets 15 with selected output cooling capacities in conjunction with the distribution of low temperature fluid 64 from the TES 60 according to the embodiments set forth herein, the electrical load received by the climate control system 10 during the peak period 71 shown in FIG. 4 is maintained substantially at or below a base electrical load 76 that is less than the peak electrical load 78. Thus, according to the second dataset 74, the electrical load received by the climate control system 10 may be flattened at or about the base electrical load 76, and the characteristic increases and decreases of the electrical load associated with the first dataset 72 may be avoided (or at least substantially reduced).Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, during operation, the controller 120 may receive a weather forecast for the on-coming day (or the on-coming peak period 71), and the weather forecast may have a predicted temperature profile for the day. The weather forecast may be received from any suitable source including a weather service, a news agency, etc. In some embodiments, the temperature profile of the weather forecast may include the expected temperatures for the coming day in a particular gradation (e.g., from hour to hour, each half hour, every five minutes, etc.). The controller 120 may determine the peak temperature for the coming day based on the weather forecast and may also determine the total available cooling capacity that may be provided by the TES 60 during the peak period 71 (e.g., via low temperature fluid 64 and heat exchanger 62, as described above). In some embodiments, the controller 120 may determine the total available cooling capacity that may be provided by the TES 60 by using one or more sensors (e.g., temperature sensors, volume sensors, level sensors, etc.) that may indicate the available volume and temperature of the low temperature fluid 64 that may be provided by the TES 60.From these information sources, the controller 120 may then determine an operating plan for the climate control system 10 during the coming peak period 71. In determining the operating plan for climate control system 10, controller 120 may first determine a combination of cold water sets 15 at selected operating levels along with an additional cooling distribution from TES 60 that provides the desired cooling capacity for the interior / rooms of building 12 for peak temperature time 75 (and thus at the expected peak temperatures) at a reduced base electrical load 76 that is less than the expected peak electrical load 78 associated with the sole operation of cold water sets 15 (e.g., first data set 72 in FIG. 4 ) as described above. In some embodiments, the controller 120 may determine the base electrical load 76 by selecting the combination of cold water sets 15 and their respective output cooling capacities that require the lowest electrical load (e.g., in HC) per unit of cooling capacity (e.g., in tons) to meet the cooling demand of the building 12 in combination with the available cooling capacity from the TES 60 based at least in part on the unique non-linear deviations in operating efficiency for the cold water sets 15 (e.g., table 32 in FIG. 3 ) as described above.The newly determined base electrical load 76 may then be set by the controller 120 as the maximum electrical load for the climate control system 10 during the other portions of the peak period 71 (and in some cases even during the entire 24 hour day). In particular, after determining the new base electrical load 76, based on the predicted peak temperature at the peak temperature time 75 and the available cooling capacity of the TES 60, the controller 120 may determine the additional combinations (and operating levels) of the cold water sets 15 and distributions of the low temperature fluid 64 from the TES 60 that provide the desired cooling capacity for the interior / rooms of the building 12 at the other predicted temperatures during the peak time period 71 (both before and after the peak temperature time 75) without exceeding the determined base electrical load 76.In determining the operating plan of the climate control system 10, the controller 120 may determine the most efficient combination and operating levels of the cold water sets 15 based on the operating efficiencies and the expected output cooling capacities provided by the table(s) 32 (FIG. 3 ) as described above. Because the data contained in the table(s) 32 may be continuously updated as described above, the controller 120 may accurately determine the most efficient combinations (and operating levels) of cold water sets 15 for operation of the climate control system 10 based on the outdoor temperature throughout the life of the climate control system 10.While the controller 120 determines the combinations of cold water sets 15 and the distribution(s) of the TESs 60 to achieve the cooling demand at or below the electrical base load 76, the controller 120 may also determine whether the predicted distributions of the TESs 60 efficiently dose and therefore fully dispense the available cooling capacity of the TESs 60 throughout the peak period 71 without either fully dispensing the available cooling capacity of the TESs 60 prior to the end of the peak period 71 or leaving cooling capacity (or excess cooling capacity above a threshold or margin) after the end of the peak period 71. If an initial distribution plan determined by the controller 120 results in such inefficient distribution from the TES 60, the controller 120 may reinitiate the entire process described above to determine a new electrical base load 76 that allows for efficient distribution of the cooling capacity of the TES 60 throughout the peak period 71.During the peak period 71, the controller 120 may perform the scheduled operation of the climate control system 10 to ensure operation at the base electrical load 76. However, deviations of the actual temperature from the predicted temperature profile during the peak period 71 may require additional operational settings by the controller 120. In particular, the controller 120 may operate another combination of cold water sets 15 at different operating levels and / or distribute different rates of low temperature fluid 64 from the TES 60 through selected heat exchangers 62 to provide the desired cooling capacity at the different temperature without exceeding the base electrical load 76 during operation. As previously described, the controller 120 may again determine the most efficient combination of cold water sets 15 (and their associated operating levels) from the tables 32 (FIG. 3 ) and available cooling capacity in the TES 60 when adjusting the operation of the climate control system 10 to account for the deviation(s) temperature(s).In the configuration of the climate control system 10 for the building 12, an operating plan for the climate control system 10 may be set based on a worst case temperature prediction (or temperature profile) for a 24 hour period. The worst case predicted temperature (or profile) may match the slowest temperature observed for the geographic area in which the building 12 is positioned over a certain past time period (e.g., over the last twenty years in some cases). The parameters (e.g., type, number, size, etc.) of the cold water sets 15 and the parameters (e.g., type, size, capacity, etc.) of the TES 60 may be determined such that the cooling demand associated with the predicted worst case temperature (or profile) may be satisfied by the climate control system 10 while maintaining the electrical load at or below a desired (or maximum desirable) base electrical load (e.g., the base electrical load 76). The parameters of both the cold water sets 15 and the TES 60 may be further determined by any additional system constraints, such as the available space that may be occupied by the climate control system 10, any equipment requirements of the climate control system 10 (e.g., the requirement to use only air cooled cold water sets or water cooled cold water sets, etc.), the availability or convenience of a particular type of TES 60, etc. The final designed climate control system 10 may be configured to provide the worst case cooling requirement (e.g., based on the worst case predicted temperature) at the desired base electrical load 76.The difference ΔP between the base electrical load 76 and the peak theoretical electrical load 78, which may be consumed by a climate control system with only cold water set, may represent an additional electrical load capacity that may be monetarized or otherwise utilized more efficiently as mentioned herein. Particularly in some commercial buildings (such as data centers), the additional electrical load capacity (e.g., ΔP) may be sold to the rental facilities of the building (e.g., for operating their electrical facilities) so as to achieve additional revenue to the building operator.FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of climate control system 10 that includes a specific example of TES 60. Generally, the TES 60 may be configured as a fluid tank 100 that may store a volume of the low temperature fluid 64 and may deliver the low temperature fluid 64 to and from the heat exchangers 62 to supplement the cooling capacity of the cold water sets 15 as described above. The low temperature fluid 64 stored in the tank 100 may be replenished during operation by one or more makeup cold water sets 102. The cold water sets 102 may be generally configured the same as the cold water sets 15 (FIG. 2 ) and thus may use a coolant circuit to cool the low temperature fluid 64 before the low temperature fluid 64 is directed back into the storage tank 100 for storage and subsequent distribution as described above.The makeup cold water sets 102 and the cold water sets 15 may be powered via a common bus bar 106 (or other suitable power distribution system). The controller 120 may control and adjust the operation of the makeup cold water sets 102 and the cold water sets 15 via the bus bar 106 or directly (and not via the bus bar 106) during operation. The bus bar 106 may be powered via the local power grid 114.Moreover, the TES 60 (or climate control system 10 in the broader sense) may comprise a solar energy generation arrangement 111. For example, the solar energy generation arrangement 111 may include one or more photovoltaic cells (or solar panels) configured to convert the sunlight 112 into electrical current. The electric current generated by the solar power generation assembly 111 may be direct current (DC). Subsequently, the electric current generated by the solar power generation assembly 111 may be converted into alternating current (AC) by an inverter 108. The inverted direct electrical current may then be routed from the DC-AC inverter 108 to the bus bar 106. The controller 120 may be communicatively coupled to the bus bar 106 such that the controller 120 may monitor and determine how much electrical current is conducted to the bus bar 106 via the solar energy generation assembly 111.During operation of the climate control system 10, the controller 120 may achieve additional operational efficiency through use of the refill cold water sets 102 and the solar energy generation assembly 111. In particular, reference is made to FIG. 6, which shows a diagram 200 illustrating example electrical loads received per unit time by the embodiment of climate control system 10 shown in FIG. 5 during an example day, in accordance with some embodiments. The graph 200 in FIG. 6 may show both the peak period 71 shown in FIG. 4 and a non-peak period 202, which together make up the 24 hour day. The "non-peak period" 202 may refer to the period of the day that the temperatures are generally coolest and that may begin late afternoon or early evening (or late evening hours) to late morning (during late morning hours). As previously described, the peak period 71 may include the portion of the day that the temperatures increase above a threshold, and conversely, the non-peak period 202 may include the remaining portion of the day that the temperatures are at or below the threshold. The outside temperature during the non-peak period 71 may also resemble a portion of a sine curve that smoothly decreases to a minimum temperature (e.g., in the early morning hours in some cases) and then smoothly increases to the peak period 71.With the diagram 70 in FIG. 4, the diagram 200 of FIG. 6 shows data sets 72, 74 that include a first data set 72 that shows the electrical load received per unit time by the climate control system 10 when only the cold water sets 15 are used to meet the output cooling demand for the building 12 without the TES 60, and a second data set 74 that shows the electrical load received per unit time by the climate control system 10 when both the cold water sets 15 and the TES 60 are used to meet the output cooling demand for the building 12 based on the non-linear operating efficiency of the cold water sets 15 according to the embodiments disclosed herein. In the diagram 200, the data sets 72, 74 are extended to also show performance during both the peak period 71 and the non-peak period 202, with reference to the embodiment of the climate control system 10 embodied in FIG. 5.Because the non-peak period 202 may represent a period in which the outdoor temperatures are generally lower, the controller 120 may be able to meet the cooling requirement of the indoor / indoor / rooms in the building 12 using the cold water sets 15 without being distributed from the TES 60 with a value for the electrical load that is below the base electrical load 76 that was set based on the coming peak period (or another peak period as described above). This decrease in the electrical load received by climate control system 10 may be indicative of the decreased electrical load input depicted in the non-peak period for first dataset 72 in FIG. 6. As a result, during the non-peak period 202, the controller 120 may have an additional electrical load capacity characterized by the difference between the base electrical load 76 for the peak period 71 and the reduced electrical load during the non-peak period 202. Because the building owner or operator may typically reserve electrical capacity to the base electrical load 76 for operation of the climate control system 10, this unused electrical load may not be used for other purposes during the non-peak period 202, thus representing a "waste" from the standpoint of the building operator. Thus, the controller 120 may utilize this additional electrical load capacity during the non-peak period 202 to refill the TES 60 to enable the subsequent distribution of the low temperature fluid 64 during the subsequent peak period 71.In some embodiments, the controller 120 may operate the refill cold water sets 102 to refill the tank 100 with cold low temperature fluid 64 during the non-peak period 202. During this process, the controller 120 may limit the operation of the refill cold water sets 102 (e.g., by adjusting the speeds of the compressors 26 of one or more of the refill cold water sets 102) such that the total electrical load received from the climate control system 10 (including the refill cold water sets 102 and the cold water sets 15) is at or below the base electrical load 76. The overall effect is that the electrical load that climate control system 10 receives is generally flattened to (or below) the baseline electrical load in both peak period 71 and non-peak period 202.Moreover, the embodiment of climate control system 10 may be operated during peak period 71 to achieve additional efficiency gains compared to the operation already set forth herein. In particular, during the peak period 71, the sun may be above the horizon line so that the solar energy generation assembly 111 may generate electrical current supplied by the bus bar 106, as described above. The electric power generated by the solar energy generation arrangement 111 may be an additional electric power that does not contribute to the electric power drawn from the power grid 114 (and therefore may be used for balancing). As a result, the controller 120 may utilize the electrical power generated by the solar energy generation assembly 111 to supplement the operation of the climate control system 10 (including the cold water sets 15 and / or the TES 60).For example, in some embodiments, during the peak period 71, the controller 120 may operate one or more of the refill cold water sets 102 with an electrical load equal to (less than or equal to) the total electrical current generated by the solar energy generation assembly 111 to refill the tank 100 further and build and improve the potential distributions of the low temperature fluid 64 from the tank 100 during the peak period 71. Consequently, the use of the electric current generated by the solar power generation assembly 111 can be used to increase the effective capacity of the tank 100 without increasing the volume thereof. By limiting the operation of the refill cold water sets 102 to an electrical load equal to or less than the total electrical current generated by the solar energy generation assembly 111, the refill cold water sets 102 may be operated without supplying a net additional electrical load to the bus bar 106.Moreover, in some embodiments, the controller 120 may operate the cold water sets 15 at a higher operating level during the peak period 71 such that the total electrical load of the climate control system 10 is above the base electrical load 76 during the peak period 71, but only by an amount equal to (less than or equal to) the electrical current generated by the solar energy generation assembly 111. The additional electrical load utilized by the cold water sets 15 via the electrical power generated by the solar energy generation assembly 111 may provide additional cooling capacity that may reduce the distribution rate or amount of the TES 60 during the peak period (which in turn may allow for more efficient or optimal distribution thereof).Generally, the embodiment of climate control system 10 shown in FIG. 5 may allow for a more aggressive base electrical load 76 during operation. In particular, the additional cooling capacities provided by the refill cold water sets 102 as well as the solar energy generation assembly 111 may allow the climate control system 10 to achieve and maintain a relatively lower base electrical load 76 even in the worst case peak periods 71.Moreover, it should be appreciated that climate control system 10 (e.g., either the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 or the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 ) may temporarily utilize additional cooling capabilities to provide additional cooling capacity for handling atypically high electrical loads (e.g., due to heat waves or other weather events) without climate control system 10 operating above base electrical load 76. For example, in some embodiments, additional cold or cold fluid tanks (e.g., liquid nitrogen, liquid CO2, etc.) may be temporarily coupled to the TESs 60 to supplement the cooling capacity provided via the TESs 60 and thus avoid a further increase in the electrical load received by the cold water sets 15 to meet the cooling requirement of the interior spaces of the building 12.Turning now to FIG. 7, an example method 300 for operating a climate control system for a building (e.g., building 12) that does not form part of the present invention is shown. The example method 300 may be performed using the embodiments of the climate control system 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 5; however, it should be appreciated that examples of the example method 300 may be performed using climate control systems that differ from the embodiments of the climate control system 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, at least in some aspects.The example method 300 includes, first at block 302, receiving weather data for an incoming day for a geographic area in which a building is located. The weather data may include a weather forecast and have at least one predicted temperature profile (e.g., temperature versus time) for the coming day. In some examples, the weather data may also include sunlight predictions that may be used to predict the effectiveness or efficiency of a solar energy generation arrangement (e.g., solar energy generation arrangement 111 shown in FIG. 5 ).Additionally, at block 304, the example method 300 includes determining a total cooling capacity available from a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement of a climate control system for the building. The TES array may comprise one or more of the TES arrays described herein as TES 60 in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the TES arrangement may include a source of low temperature fluid, such as a fluid tank, at block 304. The low temperature may comprise low temperature water or other low temperature aqueous fluid that may be stored in the tank and distributed from the tank during operation.Further, at block 306, the example method 300 includes determining a base electrical load to operate the climate control system based at least on the weather data and the total cooling capacity available from the TES arrangement. Further, the example method 300 includes determining an output cooling capacity of a plurality of cold water sets of the climate control system and a distribution from the TES arrangement configured to meet a cooling demand of the building at an electrical load of the climate control system that is at or below the base electrical load. For example, as previously described for the embodiments of climate control system 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, controller 120 may determine a base electrical load 76 (FIGS. 4 and 6 ) of climate control system 10, which may be a lowest electrical load of climate control system 10, to meet the cooling demand for the interior / rooms of building 12 at a coming day peak temperature using both cold water sets 15 and the distributions of low temperature fluid 64 from TES 60. Once the base electrical load 76 is determined, the controller 120 may adjust the operation of both the cold water sets 15 and the distribution of the low temperature fluid from the TES 60 to meet the cooling demand of the building 12 while maintaining the total electrical load of the climate control system 10 at or below the base electrical load 76.As discussed above and repeated below, the present disclosure includes, without limitation, the following example implementations.Clause 1: A climate control system for air conditioning an interior, the climate control system comprising: an interior heat exchange circuit configured to circulate a working fluid to cool an air stream directed toward the interior; a cold water set configured to cool the working fluid; and a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement comprising: a source of a low temperature fluid; and a heat exchanger coupled to the interior heat exchange circuit such that the heat exchanger is located upstream of the cold water set along the interior heat exchange circuit, wherein the heat exchanger is configured to receive a stream of the low temperature fluid from the source to cool the working fluid, thereby supplementing an output cooling capacity of the cold water set.Clause 2: The climate control system of any of the clauses, wherein the cold water set comprises a cooling circuit including a compressor configured to operate at a plurality of different speeds to adjust the output cooling capacity of the cold water set.Clause 3: The climate control system of any of the clause, wherein the source of the low temperature fluid comprises a tank configured to hold a volume of the low temperature fluid, and wherein the TES arrangement further comprises a refill cold water set configured to reduce a temperature of the low temperature fluid and dispense the low temperature fluid to the tank.Clause 4: The climate control system of any of the clause, wherein the TES arrangement further comprises one or more valves configured to control a flow of a cold fluid to the heat exchanger.Clause 5: The climate control system of any of the clause, further comprising a controller configured to: adjust a flow of the cold fluid to the heat exchanger; and adjust an output cooling capacity of the cold water set.The clause 6: The climate control system of any of the clause, further comprising: a bus bar electrically coupled to the cold water set and the refill cold water set; and a solar energy generation assembly electrically coupled to the bus bar.Clause 7: A climate control system for air conditioning an interior, the climate control system comprising: an interior heat exchange circuit configured to circulate a working fluid to cool an air flow directed to the interior; a plurality of cold water sets configured to cool the working fluid; a thermal energy storage (TES) assembly thermally coupled to the interior heat exchange circuit via a plurality of heat exchangers disposed along the interior heat exchange circuit; and a controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of cold water sets and the TES arrangement, the controller configured to adjust an output cooling capacity of the plurality of cold water sets and adjust a distribution of a cooling capacity from the TES arrangement to maintain an electrical load of the climate control system at or below a base electrical load.Clause 8: The climate control system of any of the clause, wherein the TES arrangement includes a source of low temperature fluid in fluid communication with the plurality of heat exchangers, the plurality of heat exchangers each positioned upstream of a corresponding one of the plurality of cold water sets along the interior heat exchange circuit.Clause 9: The climate control system of any of the clause, wherein the controller is configured to adjust distribution of a cooling capacity from the TES assembly by adjusting a flow of a low temperature fluid from the source to one or more of the plurality of heat exchangers.Clause 10: The climate control system of any of the clauses, wherein each cold water set of the plurality of cold water sets comprises a cooling circuit comprising a compressor, and wherein the controller is configured to adjust the output cooling capacity of the plurality of cold water sets by adjusting a speed of the compressor of one or more of the plurality of heat exchangers.Clause 11: The climate control system of any of the clause, wherein the source of the low temperature fluid comprises a tank configured to hold a volume of the low temperature fluid, and wherein the TES further comprises one or more makeup cold water sets configured to reduce a temperature of the low temperature fluid and dispense the low temperature fluid to the tank.Clause 12: The climate control system of any of the clauses, further comprising: a bus bar electrically coupled to the plurality of cold water sets and the one or more refill cold water sets; and a solar energy generation arrangement electrically coupled to the bus bar, wherein the controller is configured to operate the one or more refill cold water sets such that an electrical load of the one or more refill cold water sets is less than or equal to an electrical current generated by the solar energy generation arrangement.Clause 13: The climate control system of any of the clause, wherein the controller is configured to: receive a weather forecast for an incoming day; and determine the baseline electrical load based at least in part on a maximum temperature in the weather forecast.Clause 14: The climate control system of any of the clause, wherein the controller is also configured to determine the baseline electrical load based at least in part on a cooling capacity stored in the TES arrangement.Clause 15, which is not part of the present invention: An example method of operating a climate control system for a building, the method comprising: (a) receiving weather data for an incoming day for a geographic area in which the building is located; (b) determining a total cooling capacity available from a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement of the climate control system; (c) determining a base electrical load to operate the climate control system based at least on the weather data and the total cooling capacity available from the TES arrangement; (d) determining an output cooling capacity of a plurality of cold water sets of the climate control system and a distribution of the cooling capacity from the TES arrangement configured to meet a cooling demand of the building at an electrical load of the climate control system that is at or below the base electrical load.A clause 16, which is not part of the present invention: The example method of any of the clause, wherein the plurality of sets of cold water are configured to cool a working fluid flowing along an interior heat exchange circuit of the climate control system, the TES arrangement comprising: a source of a low temperature fluid; and a plurality of heat exchangers coupled to the interior heat exchange circuit such that each of the plurality of heat exchangers is disposed upstream of a corresponding one of the plurality of sets of cold water along the interior heat exchange circuit, the plurality of heat exchangers configured to receive a stream of the low temperature fluid from the source to cool the working fluid; and wherein the method further comprises: (e) distributing the cooling capacity from the TES array according to the distribution by adjusting a flow of the low temperature fluid to one or more of the plurality of heat exchangers.A clause 17, which is not part of the present invention: The example method of any of the clause, wherein each cold water set of the plurality of cold water sets includes a cooling circuit having a compressor; and wherein the method further comprises: (f) adjusting an output cooling capacity of one or more of the plurality of cold water sets by adjusting a speed of the compressor of each of the one or more of the plurality of cold water sets.A clause 18, which is not part of the present invention: The example method of any of the clause, wherein the source of low temperature fluid of the TES assembly comprises a tank; wherein the TES assembly further comprises one or more refill cold water sets configured to reduce a temperature of the low temperature fluid and to deliver the low temperature fluid to the tank; wherein the method further comprises: (g) determining an electrical current generated by a solar energy generation assembly of the climate control system; and (h) operating the one or more refill cold water sets such that an electrical load of the one or more refill cold water sets is less than or equal to the electrical current generated by the solar energy generation assembly.Clause 19, which is not part of the present invention: The example method of any of the clause, wherein the source of low temperature fluid of the TES assembly comprises a tank; wherein the TES assembly further comprises one or more refill cold water sets configured to reduce a temperature of the low temperature fluid and to deliver the low temperature fluid to the tank; wherein the method further comprises: (i) determining that an electrical load of the climate control system is below the electrical base load; and (j) operating the one or more refill cold water sets such that a difference between the electrical load of the climate control system and the electrical base load is decreased in response to (i).Clause 20, which is not part of the present invention: The example method of any of the clause, wherein the weather data comprises a temperature profile for the coming day, wherein (c) comprises determining a base electrical load configured to provide for a complete discharge of the cooling capacity available from the TES arrangement distributed over a peak period of the temperature profile for the coming day.Clause 21, which is not part of the present invention: An example method of operating a climate control system for a building, the method comprising: (a) receiving weather data for an incoming day for a geographic area in which the building is located; (b) determining a total cooling capacity available from a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement of the climate control system; (c) determining a base electrical load to operate the climate control system based at least on the weather data and the total cooling capacity available from the TES arrangement; (d) determining an output cooling capacity of a plurality of cold water sets of the climate control system and a distribution of the cooling capacity from the TES arrangement configured to meet a cooling demand of the building at an electrical load of the climate control system that is at or below the base electrical load.Clause 22, which is not part of the present invention: the method of Clause 21, wherein the plurality of sets of cold water are configured to cool a working fluid flowing along an interior heat exchange circuit of the climate control system, the TES arrangement comprising: a source of a low temperature fluid; and a plurality of heat exchangers coupled to the interior heat exchange circuit such that each of the plurality of heat exchangers is disposed upstream of a corresponding one of the plurality of sets of cold water along the interior heat exchange circuit, the plurality of heat exchangers configured to receive a stream of the low temperature fluid from the source to cool the working fluid; and wherein the method further comprises: (e) distributing the cooling capacity from the TES array according to the distribution by adjusting a flow of the low temperature fluid to one or more of the plurality of heat exchangers.Clause 23, which is not part of the present invention: the method of Clause 22, wherein each cold water set of the plurality of cold water sets includes a cooling circuit including a compressor; and wherein the method further comprises: (f) adjusting an output cooling capacity of one or more of the plurality of cold water sets by adjusting a speed of the compressor of each of the one or more of the plurality of cold water sets.Clause 24, which is not part of the present invention: the method of Clause 23, wherein the source of low temperature fluid of the TES assembly comprises a tank; wherein the TES assembly further comprises one or more refill cold water sets configured to reduce a temperature of the low temperature fluid and to deliver the low temperature fluid to the tank; wherein the method further comprises: (g) determining an electrical current generated by a solar energy generation assembly of the climate control system; and (h) operating the one or more refill cold water sets such that an electrical load of the one or more refill cold water sets is less than or equal to the electrical current generated by the solar energy generation assembly.Clause 25, which is not part of the present invention: the method of Clause 24, wherein the source of low temperature fluid of the TES assembly comprises a tank; wherein the TES assembly further comprises one or more refill cold water sets configured to reduce a temperature of the low temperature fluid and to deliver the low temperature fluid to the tank; wherein the method further comprises: (i) determining that an electrical load of the climate control system is below the electrical base load; and (j) operating the one or more refill cold water sets such that a difference between the electrical load of the climate control system and the electrical base load is decreased in response to (i).Clause 26, which is not part of the present invention: the method of Clause 21, wherein the weather data comprises a temperature profile for the coming day, wherein (c) comprises determining a base electrical load configured to provide for a full discharge of the cooling capacity available from the TES arrangement distributed over a peak period of the temperature profile for the coming day.The embodiments disclosed herein include systems for configuring and operating a climate control system configured to substantially reduce electrical load requirements for the climate control system over a 24 hour period. In some embodiments, a climate control system according to the embodiments disclosed herein may employ a heat storage arrangement configured to supplement the output capacity of the climate control system during peak periods, such that a peak electrical load for the climate control system may be substantially reduced. Through the use of the embodiments disclosed herein, an owner or operator of a commercial building may reduce the total electrical load that needs to be reserved for operation of the climate control system of the building, and this additional electrical load capacity may be further monetatized or used for other purposes.The foregoing discussion relates to various embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the examples disclosed herein find broad application and that the discussion of each embodiment is merely exemplary of the particular embodiment and is not intended to indicate that the scope of the disclosure, including the claims, is limited to that embodiment.The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale. Certain features and components herein could be exaggerated in scale or shown in somewhat schematic form, and some details of conventional elements could not be shown for clarity and brevity.In the discussion provided herein and in the claims, the terms "comprise" and "comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion and should therefore be interpreted to mean "including, but not limited to.". Also, the term "couple" or "couple" is intended to mean either an indirect or direct connection. Thus, when a first device is coupled to a second device, this connection may be through a direct connection of the two devices or through an indirect connection established via other devices, components, nodes, and connections. Moreover, as used herein, the term "axial" means generally along or parallel to a particular axis (e.g., the central axis of a body or aperture), while the term "radial" means generally perpendicular to a particular axis. An axial distance refers to, for example, a distance measured along or parallel to the axis, and a radial distance means a distance measured perpendicular to the axis. Furthermore, as used herein (including in the claims), the words "about," "generally," "substantially," "about," and the like, when used with respect to a stated value, are to be understood to be within a range of plus or minus 10% of the stated value.While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, changes may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope or teachings herein. The embodiments described herein are exemplary only and are not limiting. Many variations and modifications of the systems, apparatus, and methods described herein are possible and are within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of protection is not limited to the embodiments described herein, but is limited only by the following claims, the scope of which includes all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims.An embodiment of a climate control system for air conditioning an interior includes an interior heat exchange circuit configured to circulate a working fluid to cool an airflow directed toward the interior. Moreover, the climate control system comprises a cold water set configured to cool the working fluid. Further, the climate control system includes a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement further including a source of low temperature fluid and a heat exchanger coupled to the indoor heat exchange circuit such that the heat exchanger is located upstream of the cold water set along the indoor heat exchange circuit. The heat exchanger is configured to receive a stream of the low temperature fluid from the source to cool the working fluid, thereby supplementing an output cooling capacity of the cold water set.

Claims

A climate control system for air conditioning an interior, the climate control system comprising: an interior heat exchange circuit configured to circulate a working fluid to cool an air stream directed toward the interior; a cold water set configured to cool the working fluid; and a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement comprising: a source of a low temperature fluid; and a heat exchanger coupled to the interior heat exchange circuit such that the heat exchanger is located upstream of the cold water set along the interior heat exchange circuit, wherein the heat exchanger is configured to receive a stream of the low temperature fluid from the source to cool the working fluid, thereby supplementing an output cooling capacity of the cold water set.The climate control system of claim 1, wherein the cold water set comprises a cooling circuit comprising a compressor configured to operate at a plurality of different speeds to adjust the output cooling capacity of the cold water set.The climate control system of claim 1, wherein the source of the low temperature fluid comprises a tank configured to hold a volume of the low temperature fluid, and wherein the TES arrangement further comprises a refill cold water set configured to reduce a temperature of the low temperature fluid and dispense the low temperature fluid to the tank.The climate control system of claim 3, wherein the TES arrangement further comprises one or more valves configured to control a flow of cold fluid to the heat exchanger.The climate control system of claim 4, further comprising a controller configured to: adjust a flow of the cold fluid to the heat exchanger; and adjust an output cooling capacity of the cold water set.The climate control system of claim 4, further comprising: a bus bar electrically coupled to the cold water set and the refill cold water set; and a solar energy generation assembly electrically coupled to the bus bar.A climate control system for air conditioning an interior, the climate control system comprising: an interior heat exchange circuit configured to circulate a working fluid to cool an air flow directed to the interior; a plurality of sets of cold water configured to cool the working fluid; a thermal energy storage (TES) arrangement thermally coupled to the interior heat exchange circuit via a plurality of heat exchangers disposed along the interior heat exchange circuit; and a controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of sets of cold water and the TES arrangement, wherein the controller is configured to adjust an output cooling capacity of the plurality of sets of cold water and adjust a distribution of a cooling capacity of the TES arrangement to maintain an electrical load of the climate control system at or below a base electrical load.The climate control system of claim 7, wherein the TES arrangement comprises a source of low temperature fluid in fluid communication with the plurality of heat exchangers, the plurality of heat exchangers each positioned upstream of a corresponding one of the plurality of cold water sets along the indoor heat exchange circuit.The climate control system of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to adjust the distribution of cooling capacity from the TES arrangement by adjusting a flow of low temperature fluid from the source to one or more of the plurality of heat exchangers.The climate control system of claim 8, wherein each cold water set of the plurality of cold water sets comprises a cooling circuit comprising a compressor, and wherein the controller is configured to adjust the output cooling capacity of the plurality of cold water sets by adjusting a speed of the compressor of one or more of the plurality of heat exchangers.The climate control system of claim 8, wherein the source of the low temperature fluid comprises a tank configured to hold a volume of the low temperature fluid, and wherein the TES further comprises one or more makeup cold water sets configured to reduce a temperature of the low temperature fluid and to dispense the low temperature fluid to the tank.The climate control system of claim 11, further comprising: a bus bar electrically coupled to the plurality of cold water sets and the one or more refill cold water sets; and a solar energy generation assembly electrically coupled to the bus bar, wherein the controller is configured to operate the one or more refill cold water sets such that an electrical load of the one or more refill cold water sets is less than or equal to an electrical current generated by the solar energy generation assembly.The climate control system of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to: receive a weather forecast for an on-coming day; and determine the electrical baseline load based at least in part on a maximum temperature in the weather forecast.The climate control system of claim 13, wherein the controller is also configured to determine the baseline electrical load based at least in part on a cooling capacity stored in the TES arrangement.