Optimal Sizing of a Solar-Plus-Storage System for Utility Bill Savings and Resiliency Benefits

Travis Simpkins, Katherine Anderson, Dylan Cutler, Daniel Olis

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

27 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Solar-plus-storage systems can achieve significant utility savings in behind-the-meter deployments in buildings, campuses, or industrial sites. Common applications include demand charge reduction, energy arbitrage, time-shifting of excess photovoltaic (PV) production, and selling ancillary services to the utility grid. These systems can also offer some energy resiliency during grid outages. It is often difficult to quantify the amount of resiliency that these systems can provide, however, and this benefit is often undervalued or omitted during the design process. We propose a method for estimating the resiliency that a solar-plus-storage system can provide at a given location. We then present an optimization model that can optimally size the system components to minimize the lifecycle cost of electricity to the site, including the costs incurred during grid outages. The results show that including the value of resiliency during the feasibility stage can result in larger systems and increased resiliency.

Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 9 Dec 2016
Event2016 IEEE Power and Energy Society Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference, ISGT 2016 - Minneapolis, United States
Duration: 6 Sep 20169 Sep 2016

Conference

Conference2016 IEEE Power and Energy Society Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference, ISGT 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityMinneapolis
Period6/09/169/09/16

Bibliographical note

See NREL/CP-7A40-66088 for preprint

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-7A40-68005

Keywords

  • Batteries
  • Energy storage
  • Mathematical programming
  • Microgrids
  • Photovoltaic systems

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