Convex optimization-based control of sustainable communities with on-site photovoltaic (PV) and batteries

This paper presents a convex optimization-based control method for sustainable communities with multiple buildings served by a central cooling plant and with on-site solar generation and batteries. A model predictive control (MPC) approach is used to optimally schedule the energy flows among the different energy sources, on-site battery and building end users to achieve the minimum operation cost. A convex formulation is derived for the MPC problem which is then solved with a convex programming package. With the optimal operation strategy, a 9.4% energy cost savings and a 35.6% demand cost savings were achieved compared to a baseline control strategy, for a case study with three buildings and an on-site PV and battery system.