Search Results (176)

Driven by the need for sustainable and efficient energy systems, the optimal management of distributed generation, including photovoltaic systems and battery energy storage systems within prosumer households, is of crucial importance. This requires a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis to assess their viability. In this study, an optimization model formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming problem is proposed to evaluate the integration of battery storage systems for 10 prosumers on the radial feeder in Croatia and to quantify the benefits both from the prosumers’ perspective and that of the reduction in grid losses. The results show significant annual cost reductions for prosumers, totaling EUR 1798.78 for the observed feeder, with some achieving a net profit. Grid losses are significantly reduced by 1172.52 kWh, resulting in an annual saving of EUR 216.25 for the distribution system operator. However, under the current Croatian market conditions, the integration of battery storage systems is not profitable over the entire lifetime due to the high initial investment costs of EUR 720/kWh. The break-even analysis reveals that investment cost needs to decrease by 52.78%, or an inflation rate of 4.87% is required, to reach prosumer profitability. This highlights the current financial barriers to the widespread adoption of battery storage systems and emphasizes the need for significant cost reductions or targeted incentives. Full article

Photovoltaic (PV) micro-installations producing renewable electricity and automatic pellet boilers producing renewable heat energy are promising solutions for single-family houses. A single-family house equipped with a prosumer 7.56 kWp PV micro-installation and a 26 kW pellet boiler was analyzed. This study aimed to analyze the production and use of electricity and heat over three successive years (from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023) and to identify opportunities for securing renewable energy supply for the house. Electricity production by the PV was, on average, 6481 kWh year⁻¹; the amount of energy fed into the grid was 4907 kWh year⁻¹; and the electricity consumption by the house was 4606 kWh year⁻¹. The electricity supply for the house was secured by drawing an average of 34.2% of energy directly from the PV and 85.2% from the grid. Based on mathematical modeling, it was determined that if the PV installation had been located to the south (azimuth 180°) in the analyzed period, the maximum average production would have been 6897 kWh. Total annual heat and electricity consumption by the house over three years amounted, on average, to 39,059 kWh year⁻¹. Heat energy accounted for a dominant proportion of 88.2%. From a year-round perspective, a properly selected small multi-energy installation can ensure energy self-sufficiency and provide renewable energy to a single-family house. Full article

To alleviate the impact of economic and environmental detriments caused by the increased demands of electric vehicle battery production and disposal, the use of spent batteries in second-life stationary applications such as energy storage for renewable sources or backup power systems, offers many benefits. This paper focuses on reducing the energy consumption cost and greenhouse gas emissions of Internet-of-Things-enabled campus microgrids by installing solar photovoltaic panels on rooftops alongside energy storage systems that leverage second-life batteries, a gas-fired campus power plant, and a wind turbine while considering the potential loads of a prosumer microgrid. A linear optimization problem is derived from the system by scheduling energy exchanges with the Ontario grid through net metering and solved by using Python 3.11. The aim of this work is to support Sustainable Development Goals, namely 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and 13 (Climate Action). A comparison between a base case scenario and the results achieved with the proposed scenarios shows a significant reduction in electricity cost and greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in self-consumption rate and renewable fraction. This research work provides valuable insights and guidelines to policymakers. Full article

With the acceleration of global climate warming and agricultural modernization, the energy and carbon emission issues of agricultural parks (APs) have drawn increasing attention. An AP equipped with biogas-based combined heat and power (CHP) generation and photovoltaic systems serves as a prosumer terminal in a distribution network (DN). This paper introduces carbon emission flow (CEF) theory into the coordinated dispatch of APs and DNs. First, a CEF model for APs is established. Then, based on this model, a carbon–energy coordinated dispatch is carried out under bidirectional CEF interaction between the park and DN. A bidirectional carbon tax mechanism is adopted to explore the low-carbon synergy potential between them. Finally, the Stackelberg game approach is employed to address the pricing of electricity purchase/sale and carbon taxes in a DN, and the particle swarm optimization algorithm is used for rapid generating solutions. The case study shows that the proposed CEF model can effectively determine CEF distribution in the park. Moreover, the proposed bidirectional carbon tax mechanism significantly enhances the low-carbon economic benefits of both the AP and the DN. Full article

This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits of two residential photovoltaic (PV) on-grid systems in Poland: a 4.35 kWp system (V1) and a 5.70 kWp system (V2). With growing interest in prosumer energy and climate goals, assessing small-scale PV systems is critical for sustainable energy planning. Economic performance was analyzed using net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and discounted payback period (DPP). Sensitivity analyses identified key factors affecting investment outcomes. V2 demonstrated superior performance, with an NPV five times higher than that of V1 and annual savings of EUR 1392 compared to EUR 270. V2 also achieved a 15.66% IRR and 7.7-year DPP, outperforming V1′s 5.85% IRR and 17.3-year DPP. CO₂ emission reductions were 2.6 and 3.6 Mg/year for V1 and V2, respectively. The findings emphasize the importance of tailored financial incentives and regulatory reforms to support prosumers and optimize grid integration in Poland. Full article

Due to the dynamic increase in the number of prosumer electrical installations in Poland, one may observe many negative effects of their development, including the deterioration of energy quality parameters and the reliability of the existing distribution network. The installation of solar panels in Polish homes was mainly motivated by economic reasons. One of the most important problems of the distribution network is the increase in voltage. The aim of this work was to develop a practical method for determining the maximum voltage changes caused by the connection of photovoltaic installations. To accomplish this, a representative low-voltage overhead line, typical of those found in Poland, was modeled using the NEPLAN software. More than 100 distinct simulations were conducted, exploring various locations and power capacities of photovoltaic installations and utilizing authentic annual profiles for both electrical loads and photovoltaic generation. From the analysis of the data obtained, relationships that enable the determination of voltage changes induced by photovoltaic connections at any node within the low-voltage circuit were established. The computational results derived from this simplified model demonstrate sufficient accuracy for practical applications, and the required input data is accessible to distribution system operators. Full article

The Renewable Energy Community (REC) has emerged in Europe, encouraging the use of renewable energy sources (RESs) within localities, bringing social, economic, and environmental benefits. RESs are characterized by various loads, including household consumption, storage systems, and the increasing integration of electric vehicles (EVs). EVs offer opportunities for distributed RESs, such as photovoltaic (PV) systems, which can be economically advantageous for RECs whose members own EVs and charge them within the community. This article focuses on the integration of PV systems and the management of energy loads for different participants—consumers and prosumers—along with a small EV charging setup in the REC. A REC consisting of a multi-unit building is examined through a mathematical and numerical model. In the model, hourly PV generation data are obtained from the PVGIS tool, while residential load data are modeled by converting monthly electricity bills, including peak and off-peak details, into hourly profiles. Finally, EV hourly load data are obtained after converting the data of voltage and current data from the charging monitoring portal into power profiles. These data are then used in our mathematical model to evaluate energy fluxes and to calculate self-consumed, exported, and shared energy within the REC based on energy balance criteria. In the model, an energy management system (EMS) is included within the REC to analyze EV charging behavior and optimize it in order to increase self-consumption and shared energy. Following the EMS, it is also suggested that the number of EVs to be charged should be evaluated in light of energy-sharing incentives. Numerical results have been reported for different seasons, showing the possibility for the owners of EVs to charge their vehicles within the community to optimize self-consumption and shared energy. Full article

Expanding the installation and use of renewable energy sources will help Europe reach its energy and climate goals. Additionally, users of small-scale photovoltaic systems will be essential to the energy transition by forming renewable energy communities (RECs). This paper offers a techno-economic analysis of the Italian REC incentive system and a suitable business model to encourage residential photovoltaic and battery installations and lower electricity costs. In this paper, we present a community model that includes a set number of prosumers, a growing number of consumers, and various configurations and management strategies for photovoltaic (PV) and battery systems. Key elements of novelty include (i) the implementation of a fully-solar REC with PV and storage under the Italian incentive scheme, (ii) the introduction a of novel centralized BESS control strategy based on firm generation that maximises energy sharing while minimising its grid impact, (iii) the economic profitability analysis of the PV and storage system for consumers and prosumers when different BESS control strategies are applied. The simulation results show that energy performance increases if a centralized battery management strategy is activated and more consumers join the community. In addition, the proposed business model shows that the best profitability is achieved when there are as many consumers as prosumers. Most importantly, the approach was extended to the extreme case of a “fully solar-powered” community, demonstrating that the REC model is viable even with the current PV and battery costs. Finally, we show that fully solar-powered communities can be easily implemented where homeowners have enough surface for PV installation and purchase a central battery through crowdfunding. Full article

Households with photovoltaic installations contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating global climate change. To fully utilize the benefits of clean solar energy, it is essential to ensure its efficient use, which can be achieved by consuming all generated energy locally, within the household or a microgrid community, eliminating wastage during the grid transportation and storage. In this work, we propose a method to enhance self-consumption by eliminating simultaneous bidirectional energy flow in the phase lines of a three-phase grid-tied household system, particularly in cases of significant load asymmetry. We developed an adaptive power flow management (APFM) algorithm which distributes solar-generated energy across the household grid’s phase lines based on their respective loads and solar power generation level. A simulation based on real-world data demonstrated that the APFM algorithm both eliminates simultaneous active power import and export flows and ensures that all power exported from the household to the DSO grid remains symmetrical across all phase lines. As observed from the simulation results, applying the APFM algorithm reduced the daily imported and exported energy between the household and the DSO grid by an average of 27.5% during the spring–autumn period for a specific household. Additionally, reducing energy flow led to a 5% average increase in self-consumption within the household grid, with peak improvements reaching 16.5%. Full article

Energy communities constitute the main collective form for energy consumers to participate in the current energy transition. The purpose of this research paper is to present a tool that assists energy communities to achieve fair and sustainable daily operation. In this context, the proposed algorithm (i) assesses the day-ahead operation cost (or profit) of energy communities, taking into consideration photovoltaic (PV) production, battery energy storage system (BESS), and flexible loads, as well as the potential profit from selling energy to the power system, under the net billing scheme, and (ii) compares the derived cost for each member with the cost for non-cooperative operation, as single prosumers. Taking the aforementioned costs or profits into consideration, the developed algorithm then proposes three cost-sharing options for the members, peer-to-peer (P2P), so that their participation in the community is more beneficial than individual operation. The algorithm is tested on a hypothetical energy community in Greece, highlighting the importance of the cooperation amongst the members of the community for their mutual benefit; for the simulated case of different PV shares, the cooperation can result in a 24.5% cost decrease, while having a BESS can reduce the cost by 25.0%. Full article

Shared energy storage (SES) and some photovoltaic prosumers (PVPs) are difficult to aggregate by the virtual power plant (VPP) in the short term. In order to realize the optimal operation of the VPP in the incomplete resource aggregation environment and to promote the mutual benefit of multiple market entities, the energy trading strategy based on the hybrid game of SES–VPP–PVP is proposed. Firstly, the whole system configuration with incomplete resource aggregation is proposed, as well as the preconfigured market rules and the general problem for the optimal energy trading strategy of VPP. Secondly, the novel hybrid game theory-based optimization for the energy trading strategy of VPP is proposed based on the multi-level game theory model. And, the corresponding solving process using Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT), dichotomy, and alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) algorithms are also constructed to solve nonconvex nonlinear models. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified through the comparison of a large number of simulation results. The results show that our proposed energy trading strategy can be used for optimal low-carbon operation of VPPs with large-scale renewable energy and some unaggregated electricity consumers and distributed photovoltaic stations, while SES participates as an independent market entity. Full article

The rising demand for water and energy is driving the overuse of natural resources and contributing to environmental degradation. To address these challenges, the focus has shifted to low- and zero-emission technologies that utilize alternative sources of water and energy. Although such systems are commonly applied in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, facilities along transportation routes generally depend on grid connections. This study aimed to enhance operational independence and reduce environmental impacts by modernizing the Rest Area Stobierna (RAS) along Poland’s S19 expressway, part of the Via Carpatia road. A comprehensive technical, economic, and environmental analysis was conducted using HOMER Pro software (3.18.3 PRO Edition) and a simulation model based on YAS operating principles. The proposed Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES) incorporates photovoltaic panels, battery storage, and a rainwater harvesting system (RWHS). Two configurations of the HRES were evaluated, a prosumer-based setup and a hybrid-island mode. Optimization results showed that the hybrid-island configuration was most effective, achieving a 61.6% share of renewable energy in the annual balance, a 7.1-year return on investment, a EUR 0.77 million reduction in Net Present Cost (NPC), and a 75,002 kg decrease in CO₂ emissions over the system’s 25-year lifecycle. This study highlights the potential of integrating renewable energy and water systems to improve sustainability, reduce operational costs, and enhance service quality in road infrastructure facilities, offering a replicable model for similar contexts. Full article

With the progress in renewable energy and smart grid technologies, electricity users are evolving into prosumers, capable of both consuming and generating electricity through distributed photovoltaic (DPV) systems. Concurrently, the liberalization of the electricity retail market has prompted retailers to design customized electricity packages based on users’ needs and preferences, aiming to enhance service quality, efficiency, and user retention. However, previous studies have not fully addressed the multidimensional characteristics and electricity consumption behaviors that influence package selection. This paper initially dissects user characteristics across three key dimensions: electricity demand preferences, price sensitivity, and risk tolerance. Therefore, leveraging utility functions and autonomous choice behavior models, we propose two innovative electricity purchase and sale combination packages: a fluctuating pricing package and a discount-based pricing package. Furthermore, we introduce the Self-Adaptive Weight and Reverse Learning Particle Swarm Optimization (SAW&RL-PSO) algorithm to address the complexities of these choices. Simulation results indicate that the methodologies presented significantly enhance user benefits and retailer revenues while also effectively managing electricity usage fluctuations and the challenges of integrating large-scale DPV systems into the electrical grid. Full article

Due to the dynamic development of energy generation in photovoltaic installations, a reliable assessment of their impact on the level of energy losses in distribution networks is needed. For energy companies managing network resources, this issue has a very tangible practical aspect. Therefore, ongoing analyses of the level of electricity losses based on actual measurement data of prosumers are needed. In the paper, the influence of energy introduced by prosumer photovoltaic installations on energy losses in a low-voltage radial line is investigated. The issue is examined from three perspectives: 1. Focused on energy supplied into the low-voltage grid from photovoltaic installations; 2. the installations’ locations; and 3. the product of energy and distance from the power source. Comparative assessments are made of the examined aspects for 87 possible locations of prosumer installations in the tested low-voltage network. An analysis of energy losses is carried out both for the entire analysed network and separately for the line and the transformer. The changes in energy losses are influenced by both the power and the location of the photovoltaic installations. Based on the research findings, functions defining relative changes in energy losses in the low-voltage network are determined. Full article

Given the accelerating global movement towards decarbonization, the importance of promoting renewable energy (RE) adoption and ensuring efficient transactions in energy markets is increasing worldwide. However, renewable energy sources, including photovoltaic (PV) systems, are subject to output fluctuations due to weather conditions, requiring large-scale backup power to balance supply and demand. This makes trading electricity from large-scale PV systems connected to the existing grid challenging. To address this, peer-to-peer (P2P) energy markets where individual prosumers can trade excess power within their local communities have been garnering attention. This study introduces a simulator for P2P energy trading, designed to account for the diverse behaviors and objectives of participants within a market mechanism. The simulator incorporates two risk aversion parameters: one related to transaction timing, expressed through order prices, and another related to forecast errors, managed by adjusting trade volumes. This allows participants to customize their trading strategies, resulting in more realistic analyses of trading outcomes. To explore the effects of these risk aversion settings, we conduct a case study with 120 participants, including both consumers and prosumers, using real data from household smart meters collected on sunny and cloudy days. Our analysis shows that participants with higher aversion to transaction timing tend to settle trades earlier, often resulting in unnecessary transactions due to forecast inaccuracies. Furthermore, trading outcomes are significantly influenced by weather conditions: sunny days typically benefit buyers through lower settlement prices, while cloudy days favor sellers who execute trades closer to their actual needs. These findings demonstrate the trade-off between early execution and forecast error losses, emphasizing the simulator’s ability to analyze trading outcomes while accounting for participant risk aversion preferences. Full article