Energy self-sufficiency and network support through photovoltaic and energy storage systems owned by private investors in a residential complex

The concept of community solar projects (CSPs) implies immense technical and economic incentives, but has not been widely adopted because of the investment risks. In this context, solar leasing can be very attractive and can lead to significant uptakes of residential rooftop photovoltaic (RPV) systems. This paper proposes solar leasing as an option to realize a CSP for a multi-housing residential complex. Under the proposed approach, a company will lease the roof of some residential premises for installing and operating RPV systems, and selling the generated electricity to the community and the utility. The key considered design parameters are the rating and penetration level of RPV systems, as well as the capacity and the charge/discharge rate of the employed battery energy storage systems, in addition to the number of the houses that have leased their roofs and the energy trading tariffs. The impacts of these parameters on supporting the utility feeder such as network peak demand shaving and flattening the duck curve profile, while achieving the required level of self-sufficiency for the multi-housing complex are studied. These performance indicators have been also analyzed with respect to the economic parameters of the investing company. © 2020 The Authors. Energy Conversion and Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institution of Engineering and Technology and the State Grid of China Economic & Technological Research Institute Co Ltd.