Optimal capacity of solar photovoltaic and battery storage for grid-tied houses based on energy sharing

This paper determines the optimal capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage (BES) for a grid-connected house based on an energy-sharing mechanism. The grid-connected house, also mentioned as house 1 where it is relevant, shares electricity with house 2 under a mutually agreed fixed energy price. The objective is to minimize the cost of electricity (COE) for house 1 while decreasing the electricity cost of house 2. Practical factors such as real data for solar insolation, electricity consumption, grid constraint, ambient temperature, electricity rate, and battery degradation are considered based on actual data. The developed methodology is examined by taking the actual load data of two houses in South Australia. Different scenarios of contract years between the houses are investigated to make it more practical in real life. Sensitivity analyses are conducted for the sharing of energy between the houses and by changing parameters like export power limitation, load of houses, and costs of PV and BES. Likewise, operational analysis is done for two days of summer and winter. It is found that when energy sharing is applied, the optimal design of the PV-BES system will achieve lower COE for both houses.