50 Shades of Green and Brown: Comparing Grid Carbon Intensity with Consumption for Households with PV Generation and Battery Storage

The relationship between grid carbon intensity and household renewable energy consumption on domestic user behaviour is complicated. Furthermore, two recent developments, domestic battery storage and low cost monitoring devices, have enabled householders to understand the interplay between solar generation, battery storage and demand shifting (such as selective EV charging). Householders can use this understanding to inform their decisions in reducing the carbon intensity of their electricity consumption. This paper reports on a long-term study of five homes in the United Kingdom and shows how national grid carbon tracking combined with IoT energy monitoring can provide the information people need to reduce grid carbon without affecting their lifestyle.