Enhancing Renewable Energy Use in Residential Communities: Analyzing Storage, Trading, and Combinations

Abstract

Renewable energy resources, especially rooftop solar PV, have gained momentum during the past few years. However, the local consumption of PV power is limited due to the negative correlation between peak PV power and residential loads. Therefore, this study analyzes various cases to maximize the consumption of renewables in communities encompassing dwellings both with and without PV installations. The three cases considered in this study are local energy storage, community energy storage, and internal trading. A total of six cases are analyzed by evaluating these cases individually and in combinations. To achieve this, first, a generalized optimization model with specific constraints for each case is developed. Subsequently, different indices are devised to quantitatively measure trading with the grid and the consumption of renewables under varying cases. The performance of these different cases is analyzed for a community comprising five dwellings over a summer week. Furthermore, the performance of each case is evaluated for various seasons throughout the year. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis of different storage capacities (both local and community) is conducted. Simulation results indicate that community storage results in the highest renewable consumption if only one case is considered. However, the overall combination of internal trading and community storage results in the highest cost reduction, lowest dependence on the grid, and the highest consumption of renewables. Finally, a techno-economic analysis is performed on four widely used battery technologies, taking into account diverse cost and technical considerations.