Effects of energy sharing and electricity tariffs on optimal sizing of PV-battery systems for grid-connected houses

This paper investigates the optimal sizing of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage (BES) for grid-connected houses based on mutually-agreed energy sharing prices by considering the flat and time-of-use (TOU) tariffs. The grid-tied house with PV-BES, referred to house 1 (H1) in the paper shares electricity with house 2 (H2) whenever needed with mutually-agreed electricity tariffs. The main objective function of the study is to minimize the cost of electricity (COE) for the H1 while decreasing COE for H2. Eight different schemes are investigated with the combination of flat and TOU tariffs for buying, selling, and mutually-agreed rates, respectively. For each scheme, optimal sizing of components and COE for both houses are evaluated. Realistic hourly-arranged annual data of temperature, solar irradiation, and load consumption of two houses are used as the input data. For each scheme, the results are compared with the situation when H1 does not have PV-BES and there is no electricity sharing. Sensitivity, operational, and uncertainty analyses are provided for the scheme with the lowest COE.