Simulation of Operating Conditions of a Home Energy System Composed by Home Appliances and Integrated PV Powerplant with Storage

Electricity produced exploiting renewable energy sources has been continuously growing during the last years. It is mainly generated by converting solar radiation and wind, both characterised by well-known aleatory uncertainties. In Italy in 2014 (source GSE) photovoltaic (PV) installed power was 18.6 GW with an energy production of 22.3 TWh, while wind turbines installed power was 8.7 GW with an energy production of 15.2 TWh, both covering an important share of the Italian energy demand. A significant number of powerplants with aleatory uncertainty of electricity production has an important impact on the distribution grid management, where more and more resources have to be allocated to guarantee the due reserve margin to the dispatching market [1]. So, it becomes necessary to reduce the aleatory uncertainty of produced energy to mitigate the negative effects without limiting the market penetration of “zero emission” renewable sources. Large wind and PV power production plants can take advantage of forecasting models and storage systems. In the case of home integrated PV energy production plants, the impact mitigation on the grid can also be achieved through an appropriate design of the whole onsite energy system composed by both electricity using appliances, and PV powerplant (with storage). The objective of this new integrated design is the limitation of electricity exchange with the grid. That need has been partially taken into consideration by the Italian legislation on SEU (User’s efficient system) introduced by the Law 115/08: SEU’s self-consumption of electricity is not charged with transmission, distribution, dispatching and general costs.