Effects of Environmental Conditions on the Optimal Sizing and Operation of an Energy Hub

The paper analyzes the concept of Energy Hub and addresses the impact that environmental conditions could have in terms of optimal sizing and operation. In detail, end-users are modelled as Energy Hubs, having connections with several energy networks, such as electrical grid, natural gas network, district heating, etc. Each end-user aims to configure and operate its energy system in order to satisfy both the electrical and the heating/cooling demands, with several targets: cost minimization, reduction of environmental impact, local emission containment, etc. Both the sizing phase and the system operation are subjected to several factors that have been identified and considered in the proposed optimization problem. The developed tool is able to define the optimal end-user configuration (considering local constraints, such as the total roof surface) and to dispatch the sized converters in order to get the target, represented in the optimization function. Moreover, environmental conditions (e.g. air temperature) and their impact on performances of generators (e.g. photovoltaic plant) and converters (e.g. heat pump) are modelled. Binary variables have been introduced to identify the optimal system design, thus the problem has been implemented as a Mixed Integer Linear Program and solved in the MATLAB environment. Finally, a residential case study is reported to expose and discuss the effectiveness of the proposed procedure.