A cost-benefit study of sizing residential PV and ES systems based on synthesized load profiles

This paper presents a cost-benefit study of residential photovoltaic (PV) systems equipped with energy storage (ES) based on synthesized load profiles. By modeling major appliance consumptions, typical load profiles of a residential household in a given area with outdoor temperature profiles can be obtained to study whether or not installing a rooftop PV system can be profitable. Ten years' solar irradiation and temperature data in North Carolina area are used to build four case studies: a base case with no PV installation, a PV-only case, a PV with ES case, and a PV with storage and demand side management (DSM) case. Duke Energy time-of-use rate is used in major case studies, and PG&E time-of-use rate is added for comparison of bill saving brought by the PV-ES system under different rate structures. The net present value (NPV) and years of return (YR) are used to quantify the cost and benefit of installing a residential PV-ES system. Marginal savings brought by PV and ES per kW (/kWh) capacity are analyzed to help the home owners size the components of the PV-ES system.