Designing of Cost-Effective and Low-Carbon Multi-Energy Nanogrids for Residential Applications

Abstract

Recently, hybrid multi-energy systems consisting of multiple generation, conversion, and storage technologies have been receiving great attention as a promising option to meet the multi-energy demands of residential end-users, by transforming them from passive consumers to active prosumers, who both produce and consume energy. The design problem of such systems is challenging due to the large number of degrees of freedom in the design and operation phases, so the system as a whole must be optimized. Moreover, both economic and low-carbon priorities should be considered in the design problem to foster an effective implementation and deployment. The aim of this paper was to present a methodology for the optimal design of multi-energy nanogrids (MENs) operating in grid-connected and islanded modes. Based on a pre-defined MEN superstructure, a multi-objective linear problem was established to find the types and sizes of the technologies in the MEN, with the aim to reduce the total annual cost and the fossil primary energy input, while satisfying the assigned time-varying user multi-energy demand. With reference to the latter, the thermal behavior of the building was simulated by using the dynamic simulation software TRNSYS. The Pareto frontier was found by minimizing a weighted sum of the total annual cost and fossil primary energy input, and the problem was solved by using branch-and-cut. In the numerical testing, a single-family house of 200 m2 located in Italy was considered as the residential end-user. Results show the effectiveness of the model for providing good balancing solutions for end-users based on economic and energetic priorities. Moreover, it was found that the MEN operating in grid-connected mode showed economic and environmental performances much better than those found for the configuration operating in islanded mode.

Investigating Hydrogen-Based Non-Conventional Storage for PV Power in Eco-Energetic Optimization of a Multi-Energy System

“…where C Inv is the total annualized cost of all energy technologies which depends on the specific capital cost of each technology j, C c,j , and the capital recovery factor, CRF j [23]:…”

“…The design constraints for energy technologies ensure that each technology has a size in the range available in the market, and is formulated below [23]:…”

“…The contribution of this paper is to investigate a hydrogen-based non-conventional storage for RES generation in the eco-energetic design optimization of an MES in the form of a nanogrid, by extending the results of a previous work [23] where a conventional nanogrid was analyzed. The MES under study consists of a reversible fuel cell (r-SOC), a PV system, an electric pump, an absorption chiller and thermal energy storage, and can satisfy the multi-energy demand of a residential end-user.…”

Food, Energy and Water Nexus: A Brief Review of Definitions, Research, and Challenges

“…A sample multi-energy nanogrid (MEN) considering both economic and low-carbon objectives in islanded and grid-connected modes was optimized in [24] by applying linear programming. The case study of a single-family house of 200 m 2 located in Italy was mentioned, and the TRNSYS as the dynamic simulation software is used.…”

Topologies for Battery and Supercapacitor Interconnection in Residential Microgrids with Intermittent Generation

“…At a lower power scale, some authors have introduced the concept of residential microgrids or nanogrids, conceived as microgrids connected at a single point of common coupling, located in a low voltage distribution grid. A residential microgrid can come up by limiting its electric boundary to a single house with a capacity range of 2 -20 kW [1], [3], [4].…”