An emissions arbitrage algorithm to improve the environmental performance of domestic PV-battery systems
An emissions arbitrage algorithm to improve the environmental performance of domestic PV-battery systems
Domestic PV-battery systems are rarely operated in a way which specifically maximizes environmental benefit. Consequently the studies that seriously examine such systems often find that the greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions savings of rooftop PV, though still positive, are lessened by adding a domestic battery. This study shows that by simulating a PV-battery system with a range of sizes that this need not be inevitable. A novel algorithm was designed specifically to perform ‘emissions arbitrage’: to charge the battery when the grid emissions intensity is low and to discharge when it is high. It was found that the CO2 saved relative to the same system with PV only can more than pay back the CO2 debt of manufacturing the battery. This is true as long as the UK moves away from the present-day situation where natural gas-fired generators are nearly always the marginal generator. This work underlines the importance of both the operating strategy and the interactions between the system and the entire grid, in order to maximize the environmental benefit achievable with domestic PV-battery systems.
GHG, emissions arbitrage, algorithm, CO2, solar PV, battery
Sun, Susan Isaya
61b831f2-4930-4b85-b940-297bb15da4e1
Crossland, Andrew
6f2f4bc6-0c7d-4df9-aa88-42dba0d6d208
Chipperfield, Andrew
524269cd-5f30-4356-92d4-891c14c09340
Wills, Richard
60b7c98f-eced-4b11-aad9-fd2484e26c2c
12 February 2019
Sun, Susan Isaya
61b831f2-4930-4b85-b940-297bb15da4e1
Crossland, Andrew
6f2f4bc6-0c7d-4df9-aa88-42dba0d6d208
Chipperfield, Andrew
524269cd-5f30-4356-92d4-891c14c09340
Wills, Richard
60b7c98f-eced-4b11-aad9-fd2484e26c2c
Sun, Susan Isaya, Crossland, Andrew, Chipperfield, Andrew and Wills, Richard
(2019)
An emissions arbitrage algorithm to improve the environmental performance of domestic PV-battery systems.
Energies, 12 (3), [560].
(doi:10.3390/en12030560).
Abstract
Domestic PV-battery systems are rarely operated in a way which specifically maximizes environmental benefit. Consequently the studies that seriously examine such systems often find that the greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions savings of rooftop PV, though still positive, are lessened by adding a domestic battery. This study shows that by simulating a PV-battery system with a range of sizes that this need not be inevitable. A novel algorithm was designed specifically to perform ‘emissions arbitrage’: to charge the battery when the grid emissions intensity is low and to discharge when it is high. It was found that the CO2 saved relative to the same system with PV only can more than pay back the CO2 debt of manufacturing the battery. This is true as long as the UK moves away from the present-day situation where natural gas-fired generators are nearly always the marginal generator. This work underlines the importance of both the operating strategy and the interactions between the system and the entire grid, in order to maximize the environmental benefit achievable with domestic PV-battery systems.
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energies-12-00560
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Accepted/In Press date: 9 January 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 February 2019
Published date: 12 February 2019
Keywords:
GHG, emissions arbitrage, algorithm, CO2, solar PV, battery
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 428334
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/428334
ISSN: 1996-1073
PURE UUID: a1137fd5-b3dc-4029-9f8b-e3cfe8b48220
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Date deposited: 21 Feb 2019 17:30
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:41
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Author:
Susan Isaya Sun
Author:
Andrew Crossland
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