The Practice and Potential of Renewable Energy Localisation: Results from a UK Field Trial
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- adapting demand to make use of the local generation wherever possible;
- avoiding use of non-local electricity at high cost times such as early evening;
- reducing overall consumption of electricity.
- a time-of-use tariff with a static baseline and a day-ahead dynamic adjustment reflecting the predicted availability of locally-generated electricity from PV panels owned by some participants;
- a web-based display of the current tariff and consumption on user’s smart phones, tablets, and computers;
- technology to automatically schedule loads at an optimum time with respect to the tariff while prioritizing user needs and preferences;
- exploitation of domestic energy storage in batteries and thermal storage heaters;
- regular feedback on the financial savings achieved by individual users and the participant group as a whole;
- a sustained program of engagement aimed at retaining user interest and obtaining their feedback.
2. The CEGADS Trial
2.1. The Participants and Business Model
2.2. The Metering and Demand Response System
3. Results from the Trial
3.1. Utilisation of Local Generation
3.2. Demand Side Response
- automatic “smart” control of water and space heating in six electrically-heated homes;
- time-shifting of supply via the home batteries installed in nine homes;
- semi-automatic time-shifting of demand using the smart plugs in all homes;
- decisions made by any of the participants to manually control any appliance taking account of the incentives offered.
3.3. User Experience
4. Follow-On System Modelling and Commercial Implementation
4.1. Agent-Based Modelling
4.2. Commercial Implementation
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Group Attribute | Number in Group | Responders | R2 Range for Responders | Responders as % of Group |
---|---|---|---|---|
Controlled electric heating | 6 | 5 | 0.15–0.26 | 83% |
PV generator | 14 | 11 | 0.13–0.7 | 79% |
Battery storage | 8 | 7 | 0.23–0.82 | 88% |
All other participants | 19 | 4 | 0.16–0.67 | 21% |
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Boait, P.; Snape, J.R.; Morris, R.; Hamilton, J.; Darby, S. The Practice and Potential of Renewable Energy Localisation: Results from a UK Field Trial. Sustainability 2019, 11, 215. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010215
Boait P, Snape JR, Morris R, Hamilton J, Darby S. The Practice and Potential of Renewable Energy Localisation: Results from a UK Field Trial. Sustainability. 2019; 11(1):215. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010215
Chicago/Turabian StyleBoait, Peter, J. Richard Snape, Robin Morris, Jo Hamilton, and Sarah Darby. 2019. "The Practice and Potential of Renewable Energy Localisation: Results from a UK Field Trial" Sustainability 11, no. 1: 215. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010215