Soft-islanding a group of houses through scheduling of CHP, PV and storage

In this paper we investigate the possibility of soft-islanding (near-autonomous operation) a group of houses from the electric power grid in the Netherlands. Energy balancing is possible through applying multi-mode smart grid scheduling for controllable energy generation, storage and consumption devices. The modeled neighborhood consists of modern, well-insulated terraced houses in a typical Dutch climate, each equipped with roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) panels. The panels are sized to cover the daily electric demand during sunnier parts of the year where the heat demand is low. The system also includes a centrally placed combined heat and power (CHP) with hot water and electric storage, and controllable devices within the houses such as washing and dishwashing machines. The daily domestic hot water demand is supplied entirely by the central CHP. The investigation includes an estimation of system dimensions, e.g. PV, CHP and storage capacities based on daily supply and load profiles on top of the multi-level scheduling. Through simulations we demonstrate the technical feasibility for off-grid operation of this neighborhood.