Review of battery storage optimisation in Distributed Generation

Distributed Generation (DG) in the form of Renewable Power Generation systems is currently preferred for clean power generation. However due to their intermittent and unpredictable nature, energy storage must be used to ensure that the load is met at all times. There are many possible options for energy storage and the most popular and technologically matured option, batteries, is the subject of this paper. This paper explores the importance and necessity of batteries within DG systems, especially with renewable power generation systems. The paper looks at different varieties of batteries with a specific emphasis on lead-acid batteries. To integrate batteries into renewable energy systems in an economical manner, the system and the energy storage must be optimised to ensure the most effective sizing of each of the system components to ensure the reliability of the system whilst minimising the cost. There are currently many methods of optimising systems with these criteria. These methods optimisation of storage and battery components are discussed in this paper.