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Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

2012

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

First Advisor

David W. Galipeau

Abstract

Global environmental concerns, rising grid electricity cost and the increasing need for energy have opened new opportunities for the integration of photovoltaics (PV) into the grid. As a result there is need to better understand how to optimize grid tied PV systems in no-net metering situations using load management, considering current technology and tariffs. The objectives of this research were to optimize grid tied PV systems for no net metering situations using load management and to determine the most cost effective residential grid tied PV system designs considering load management and battery storage. Three photovoltaic systems were studied in this thesis; 1) a 400Wp standalone PV system to study solar radiation; 2) a 600 Wp PV system to study grid tied systems; and 3) a 410 Wp standalone PV system to study storage systems. It was found that the grid tied PV systems can provide 50% of system load requirements without load management, while load management can increase self consumption to 75%, resulting in a 50% reduction in energy sent to and from the utility grid. This can reduce grid overvoltage problems caused by PV systems and can be an effective tool for energy management from both the consumers and utility perspective. Consumers in Europe and the US will benefit from load management since FIT incentives are decreasing and net metering caps are being reached. Countries without a reliable grid, that use island PV systems, can reduce system storage requirements with load management. An additional finding of this study was that the PV array size for grid tied system should be 75% of systems designed for the total load to be most cost effective. The addition of batteries to a load management system can increase self consumption to 100% however there is no savings because of batteries and inverter cost. Future work should include a study of load management systems in situations where utility time of day pricing is in effect. Also a load management system to control an entire house can be developed. Optimum PV array size should also be determined for no net metering situations with and without load management considering annual solar radiation. The effect of small storage systems can be studied to optimize self consumption with daytime PV array size. Design practices for grid tied PV systems without net metering also need to be developed.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Photovoltaic power systems
Power resources -- Management

Description

Includes bibliographical references (pages 96-103)

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

115

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

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