A Game-Theoretic Approach to Design Solar Power Generation/Storage Microgrid System for the Community in China

Abstract

The utilization of solar power generation/storage microgrid systems has become an important approach, transforming the energy structure of China in order to achieve the emission peak and carbon neutrality. Meanwhile, the commercialization of household photovoltaic (PV) systems is also at the transitional period between its beginning to its maturity. This study considers developers intending to invest in building community microgrids with the concept of sustainable development, and focuses on the relationship between the developers and residential users. Firstly, an operation framework considering the autonomous behavior patterns of stakeholders is proposed. Then, a two-level mathematical programming model based on the leader–follower game is established in this paper. In the upper level, the developer decides the capacity size and the system price of the microgrid system in order to maximize profit. In the lower level, the residential users in the community optimize their power consumption behaviors in the microgrid system taking into account both benefit and fairness. They need to decide whether to support the construction of a microgrid system by comparing their electricity bills before and after participating in a microgrid system. Through solving the model and analyzing the relationship between the two sides of the game, it can be seen that only by designing the optimal system configuration and coordinating with weather conditions in terms of better sunshine intensity can the developer and all kinds of users benefit from the project under the current market data. Meanwhile, the users with higher power consumption benefit more from the microgrid system among different types of residents. Under the market structure dominated by developer, the government’s PV subsidy will greatly increase the revenue of system developer. However, it does not increase the installed capacity of system, nor does it bring more benefits to residential users. Moreover, compared with the independent operation mode, the centralized management mode can bring more benefits to both sides and encourage the developer to build larger installations.