LabZERO is a multidisciplinary laboratory to enable strategic cooperation with enterprises and promote multidisciplinary research for the development of innovative technologies in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources in both urban and industrial sectors. Research and experimentation activities in LabZERO make use of simulation tools and technologically advanced equipment, in order to reduce the risks of applied research and support product innovation in the path “from concept to market”. The laboratory provides innovative solutions for fast prototyping, for the certification of materials and the development of complex systems, in the fields of energy efficiency, energy conservation, sustainable manufacturing, smart grids and smart cities.

LabZERO activities are based on the coordinated work of four research units: three units at the Politecnico di Bari (DEI, DMMM, DICAR), and one at the ENEA Research Center in Brindisi. The Lab is part of the Apulian network for the applied research fostered by “Regione Puglia” and aims to the integration with other R&D networks and industrial clusters. A main strength of the LabZERO is the collaboration with entities of different nature. In fact, LabZERO works in close cooperation with about forty stakeholders such as industrial developers, public territorial bodies, public administrations and Municipalities, and relevant research actors.
The main research activities of LabZERO concern:

Fast prototyping of electro-mechanical equipment and devices for smart city and home automation
Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) applications
Prototyping and testing of components for smart grids and microgrids
Medium and low voltage distribution automation
Advanced protection systems
Electrical Vehicles infrastructures, smart charging and Vehicle to Grid (V2G)
Design and test of micro wind turbines
Sustainable manufacturing, de-manufacturing by cryogenics and recycling of waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE)
High performance building material characterization
Non-destructive tests for the mechanical characterization of materials and structures
Smart materials and devices for the thermoelectric generation from waste heat or solar energy
Solar heating & cooling
Industry 4.0
Smart Manufacturing & Smart Farming

Department

DARCOD

DEI

DMMM

Contact Person

Massimo La Scala

massimo.lascala@poliba.it

Companies and Institutions

Washington State University

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL

Retegas Bari S.p.A.

AMET S.p.A

Blue H R&D SRL

CIAB

CNA Bari

Comune di Bari

Comune di Bitetto

Comune di Capurso

Comune di Cellamare

Comune di Margherita di Savoia

Comune di Polignano a Mare

CONFAPI Bari e BAT

Costellazione Apulia

Confindustria Puglia

Dyrecta Lab S.r.l.

EV Charging

I-Com

Mediterranean Design Network S.r.l.

Nomisma Energia

Città Metropolitana di Bari

Provincia di Taranto

ReEnergy Projects 1 S.r.l

RSE

STC S.r.l

Tera S.r.l.

UPI Puglia

Fincons S.p.A.

ALI6 S.r.l.

EMI S.r.l.

Garofoli S.p.A.

GEM ICT – Research & development S.r.l.

Ginex Gaetano

SIC Divisione Elettronica S.r.l.

Comune di Palo del Colle (BA)

Confindustria Brindisi

Niteko S.r.l.

Applica Iot S.r.l.

Dgs S.p.A.

Elfim S.r.l.

Italian Cutting System S.r.l. (ICS)

So.Co.In. / System S.r.l.

Centro di Ricerche Europeo di Tecnologie Design e Materiali (CETMA)

Kad3 S.r.l.

InResLab S.c.a.r.l.

CNR

Università di Genova

Università di Bari

ARPA Puglia

PUDA Società Cooperativa A.R.L.

G.M.T. S.P.A.

Snam S.P.A.

Università degli Studi di Palermo

NIR S.r.l.

TERNA

e-distribuzione S.p.A.

Gridspertise S.R.L.

T & M LOGISTICA INTEGRATA S.R.L.

INGEL - S.R.L.

ILMEA S.R.L.

CHARISMA - SOCIETA' COOPERATIVA SOCIALE - O.N.L.U.S.

NEW EUROART S.R.L.

THESIS LAB S.R.L.

Projects

"sistemi e TECnologie per l'idrogeno (TECH2)" - Project MISE F/350388/01-05/X60 - Accordi per l'innovazione DM 31/12/2021

"DownTown-Mobi Downtown by electric Mobility (Downtown-Mobi)" - Project MISE F/340062/01-05/X59 - Accordi per l'innovazione DM 31/12/2021

PRIN 2022 - "Smart COmmunities for Resilient Energy Transition (SCORET)" - Prot. 2022YYMWTJ

Technical scientific agreement with ENEA on design, implementation and testing of models for the reconfiguration of distribution networks

PNRR POR H2 Collaboration Agreement for study and definition of control strategies for interface converters used in electrolyzers and fuel cells

PNRR POR H2 Collaboration Agreement for study and development of use cases and control strategies for networks with high hydrogen vector penetration

FESR-FSE 2014-2020 Azione 1.4 “E-Park - Microgrid Parking: Parcheggio intelligente per la Smart City” – Avviso pubblico “Innolabs”, cod. NGFKLZ2.

Technical scientific agreement with SNAM S.p.A. for the development of a model aimed to remove intra-zonal congestions of the transmission network

Technical scientific agreement with Università degli Studi di Palermo about feasibility studies aimed at designing of microgrids concerning BLORIN project.

Technical scientific agreement with e-distribuzione S.p.A. for the development of integrated storage and microgrid controllers in minor Italian islands for ISMI project.

Technical scientific agreement with Next Intelligence Research (N.I.R) S.r.l. for designing and testing of components for distribution systems and of intelligent management devices.

H2020 -LCE-04-2017 – Project CTN02_00018_9856993 “Living grid”.

H2020-LCE-2017-SGS – Project 773406 “Optimal System-Mix Of flexibility Solutions for European electricity – OSMOSE”.

FESR-FSE 2014-2020 Action 1.6 – “Integrated system for lighting and urban mobility services - EMERA", INNONETWORK 2017 – Puglia Region, cod. QCXK671.

Technical scientific agreement with Università degli Studi di Bari and ARPA Puglia for research and consulting activities in efficiency and energy saving for a technological park (“Technopolis”).

ENERGY ROUTER – “Energy Router e Strumenti di Controllo Cloud per Smart Grid”, financed by Puglia Region within the call “Aiuti a Sostegno dei Cluster Tecnologici Regionali”, cod. HX8HXI1.

“Smart industrial energy district nel polo industriale di Brindisi”.

Funding

MISE - Accordi per l'innovazione DM 31/12/2021 - 752k€ (1325k€)

MISE - Accordi per l'innovazione DM 31/12/2021 - 811k€ (1413k€)

European Union - Next Generation EU, Mission 4 'Education and Research' - Component C2 Investment 1.1, 'Fund for the National Research Programme and Projects of Significant National Interest (PRIN)' - (399k€)

MASE-ENEA Program Agreement on the National Electric System Research, Three-Year Implementation Plan 2022–2024 (135k€)

072-TERIN-STSN, Activity Line 4.1.1 of the PNRR, Mission 2, Component 2, Investment 3.5, NEXT GENERATION EU (Implementing Entity: ENEA – TERIN Department) (33k€)

073-TERIN-STSN, Activity Line 4.2.1 of the PNRR, Mission 2, Component 2, Investment 3.5, NEXT GENERATION EU (Implementing Entity: ENEA – TERIN Department) (45k€)

FESR-FSE 2014-2020 Azione 1.4, “E-Park” project - 211 k€.

SNAM S.p.A., technical agreement - 90.8 k€.

Università degli Studi di Palermo”, technical agreement for “BLORIN” project - 50 k€.

e-distribuzione S.p.A., technical agreement for “ISMI” project - 150 k€

N.I.R. S.r.l., technical agreement - 845 k€.

H2020 -LCE-04-2017, “Living grid” project - 19.5 k€.

H2020 -LCE-2017-SGS, “OSMOSE” project – 35 k€.

FESR-FSE 2014-2020 Action 1.6, “EMERA" project - 190 k€.

Università degli Studi di Bari and ARPA Puglia, technical agreement for “Technopolis" - 15 k€.

Puglia Region, “ENERGY ROUTER” project – 650 k€.

Confindustria Brindisi, “Smart industrial energy district nel polo industriale di Brindisi” – 45 k€.

Facilities

A microgrid test facility:

• Real time digital simulator (RTDS RT-5600)

• RTDS Interface to IEC 61850 equipment

• 4-quadrants programmable power source with multiple AC and DC power output configurations (15 kW)

• Photovoltaic power plant (5 kW)

• 4-quadrants controllable Battery Energy Storage Systems (5/5 kW/kWh)

• An experimental biomass externally fired combined cycle plant

• An innovative open-air wind tunnel

• EV charging station (11 kW)

Microgrid Parking:

• Photovoltaic power plant (11 kW)

• 2 Battery Energy Storage Systems (15/15 kW/kWh)

• 2 EV charging stations (22 kW)

Cryogenic testing device

Gas pycnometer and gas sorption analyzer

Laser-ultrasonic test bench

Arduino development kit

AC and DC bench power supply

PLC modules

Microcontroller development boards

Current clamps

Controllable load (resistive, inductive, capacitive)

Digital scopes and spectrum analyzer

Smart camera

Earth fault detector

Luminance and illuminance meters

HV insulation test

Softwares

PowerFactory – DIgSILENT

COMSOL

LabVIEW

Matlab/Simulink

Services

• Fast prototyping of electrical equipment & systems

• Design and testing of control boards through hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)

• Design and testing of power components through power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL)

• Testing and setting of electrical protection systems

• Power quality measurement and immunity tests

• Measurements of low-frequency electromagnetic fields

• Dielectric strength tests on cables

• Main measurements from electrotechnical laboratory

• Main lighting measures

• Measurements for grounding system

• Short circuit analysis

• Power system simulation of complex transmission and industrial grids

• Operator Training Simulator for the training of operators in industrial as well as transmission power systems

• Design and verification in substation automation

• Communication and network integration tests with IEC 61850 devices

• Communication tests of the I/O list in SCADA applications under IEC 61850 protocol

• Testing of micro wind power turbines

• Mechanical characterization of materials through laser and nanosonic interferometry

• Thermal cycles testing of materials using a climatic chamber

• Cryogenic and demanufacturing techniques for recycling exhausted PV panels

• Thermal diffusivity, specific heat, thermal conductivity measurements

• Measurement and characterization of thermo-electrical parameters of thin film materials

• Modeling and simulation of materials, components and devices

StakeHolder

Boards

External Collaborators

Fellow

Graduate

Organizations and Enterprise

Tecnnical Administrative Staff

Visitor

Address / How to reach us

Via Amendola 132, Bari, Officine Politecniche, Plesso “ex Scianatico” – LabZero

Hours

Mon - Fri 8:00 - 18:00

Area (mq)

800

Link to laboratory