A cellular energy system is an organisational model for energy technology that consists of energy cells. The energy cell as the smallest possible building block consists of an infrastructure for energy conversion, energy distribution, energy storage and units for energy consumption. An energy management system makes it possible to coordinate the processes within a cell and with neighbouring cells (bidirectionality). The balance between energy conversion and energy consumption is organised using different forms of energy. In a broader sense, economic processes can also be counted as part of the cellular energy system[1].
There is no fixed definition of the size of an energy cell. If we consider an energy system in which flows can occur across balance boundaries, it makes sense to consider a building, for example, as a representative small unit. This can also be considered practical from a data protection perspective. Based on this size, however, it is also possible to
can also be regarded as energy cells.
The combination of several cells is referred to as an energy cell network. Typical applications here are neighbourhood solutions or, in terms of electrical energy technology, systems that are integrated into a low-voltage grid. The combination of different energy cell networks is referred to as an energy cell system. This is characterised by higher system levels, such as those found in the medium-voltage grid and in the medium-pressure range. With reference to thermal energy technology, large district heating networks (primary systems) can be addressed for this purpose. The following figure documents the different networks in the areas of ‘energy cell’, ‘energy cell network’ and ‘energy cell system’.
![Energiezellenverbund [1]](https://zellsys.de/wp-content/uploads/Energiezellenverbund.jpg)
Fig.: Energy cell, energy cell network and energy cell system, source: [1]