Experimental performance analysis of an installed microgrid-based PV/battery/EV grid-connected system

Abstract

Global energy demand, which is largely based on fossil fuels, is expected to increase rapidly. An effort must be made to mitigate carbon emissions and climate change to ensure sustainable and clean development. In recent years, the increasing share of renewable energy and energy-storage systems, the development of electric vehicles (EVs), promotion of energy efficiency and demand-side management (DSM) have become today's solution technologies. The microgrid (MG), which involves the interconnection of several generation and storage units capable of operating locally with or without connection to the power grid, is also a very useful emerging technology. This study allowed the experimental operation and performance analysis of a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV)/battery/EV MG hybrid system, which was used for maximizing PV self-consumption and DSM objectives. The entire MG consisting of two subsystems (polycrystalline PV array of 2.16 kWp for Subsystem 1, monocrystalline PV system of 2.4 kWp for Subsystem 2, EV with lithium-ion battery capacity of 6.1 kWh) was installed under outdoor conditions at the University Institute of Technology in Mulhouse, France in August 2018. The operation and behaviour of the system components, including the inverter, batteries and power grid, were analysed in both scenarios with and without EV connection. The results shows that the total cumulative energy injected into the grid during the entire system operating cycle is estimated to be 3466.82 and 5836.58 kWh for Subsystems 1 and 2, respectively. In addition, the energy produced by Subsystem 2 during its lifetime and the emissions emitted are respectively estimated at 5597.65 kWh and 4.17 tons. The other results in terms of PV output power, energy yield, feed-in power and self-consumed energy were quantified and analysed in detail.