Energy performance enhancement of a research centre based on solar potential analysis and energy management

Abstract Energy management is very important for the effective operation of a hybrid system composed of various energy sources. The present work aims to develop an effective control strategy in order to reduce the grid-maximal contracted power of a hybrid building containing PV systems, combined heat and power (CHP) unit and battery energy storage system (BESS). The proposed solutions (new control strategy and increased PV system size) were carried out based on the analysis of monitored data collected from May 2016 to April 2017 representing the real behaviour of the hybrid system. The obtained results demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed control strategy in decreasing the grid-maximal contracted power from 140 kW to 120 kW and increasing the self-sufficiency of the building. Furthermore, by combining the proposed control strategy and the proposed PV system, the self-sufficiency can be even more increased and the grid-maximal power can be reduced by 30% leading to an annual savings of almost 4000 €/year. Finally, the financial assessment revealed that the payback period of the proposed solution is less than 10 years confirming the profitability of the investment.