Sizing and operation optimization of a hybrid photovoltaic-battery backup system assisting an intermittent primary energy source for a residential application

This thesis addresses the issue of intermittent primary energy source in several developing countries and considers, in particular, the case study of Lebanon. A PV-battery backup system is proposed and assessed as a replacement of the grid energy during daily power outage periods for a high energy consuming residential house. The proposed system topology introduces more critical conditions and additional constraints on the operation of the system compared to standard on-grid or standalone PV systems. The main concern is to provide permanent electricity supply to the house, reduce the resulting fees, and ensure high performance and reliability of the backup system while respecting the residents’ comfort levels. This thesis aims at thoroughly assessing the suitability of the proposed backup system by focusing on various aspects of the system. First, its configuration is optimized through the development of a detailed economic study estimating the resulting fees over its 20-year lifetime. The sizing process is formulated as an optimization problem having the sole objective of minimizing the overall cost of the system. Furthermore, a detailed comparative study of various water heating techniques is conducted to the end of determining the most suitable configuration to be coupled with the proposed backup solution. Second, the thesis targets the operation optimization of the PV-battery system by implementing a Demand Side Management (DSM) program aiming at preventing the occurrence of loss of power supply to the house while maintaining high comfort levels to the inhabitants and respecting the operation constraints of the system. The control is divided into several layers in order to manage predictable and unpredictable home appliances. The strength of the developed control lies in ensuring the complete coordination between all the components of the installation: the grid, PV panels, battery storage, and the load demand. The benefits of the DSM are proven to go beyond the operation optimization of the system since they highly affect the sizing of the backup, and by extension, the overall resulting cost. The established program is optimized for the hardware implementation process by ensuring a low memory consumption and fast decision making. The developed C codes of the full DSM program are implemented on ARM Cortex-A9 processors. The simulation and implementation results show that the developed management program is highly generic, flexible, accurate, fast, and reliable.The results presented in this thesis validate that the proposed PV-Battery backup system is highly suitable to assist unreliable grids. It outperforms currently installed Diesel Generators and demonstrates a remarkable reliability especially when coupled with the developed DSM program.