Statistical evaluation of feasibility of emergency micro-grid

Abstract

When the target capacity of PV systems toward 2030 is realized, most of newly constructed houses may have a PV system. In such the situation, PV systems can contribute to electricity supply in the emergency situation as well as ordinary situation. This paper focuses on an emergency microgrid consisting of residential PV systems and battery system for the electricity supply to a load center during urban disaster or massive blackout. Considering a typical urban residential area of 500m×500m and a typical irradiation pattern, we calculated the available electricity from PV systems and the required capacity of battery for compensating for the shortage of electricity from PV systems. If the weather condition is fine, the total electricity supply from PV systems would be much larger than the restricted electricity demand during urban disaster, resulting in the battery recharged with the surplus electricity from PV systems. Therefore, if we install the battery system capable for electricity supply during one night, the emergency microgrid can meet the electricity demand during the most combinations of continuous three days in a year. Then, assuming that the emergency microgrid is formed in each 500m×500m area or 1km×1km area, we statistically evaluated the feasibility of emergency microgrid in Aichi prefecture. The result shows that if we can install the battery with the total capacity of 1500 MWh, the emergency microgrid can be applied in many residential areas for some million people those who may have black-out after the strong earthquake which may happen in Tokai area. © 2008 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.