Sizing of Grid-Connected PV-Battery Systems: Technical and Economic Simulator

36th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1366-1373
In this paper, we present a grid-connected PV-battery systems simulator called PVbat. PVbat was designed to simulate the power flows between the PV system, building loads, the battery system and the utility grid. In addition, PVbat uses ageing battery models in order to calculate the battery lifetime. An economic analysis is also performed taking into account the costs associated with the PV-battery system as well as the electricity prices. As a result, the annual billing saving, the levelized cost of electricity and the payback-time are obtained. In the first section, a brief introduction about the simulator is presented, then in section 2 the operating characteristics are exposed. Section 3 explains the algorithm and control strategies used in the tool, and finally, in section 4 the conclusions are presented.