Matching decentralized energy production and local consumption: A review of renewable energy systems with conversion and storage technologies

David Grosspietsch, Marissa Saenger and Bastien Girod

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, 2019, vol. 8, issue 4

Abstract: The increasing share of decentralized intermittent renewable energy reinforces the necessity of balancing local production and consumption. Decentralized energy systems, powered by renewable energy technologies and incorporating storage and conversion technologies, are promising options to cope with this challenge. Many studies have evaluated their potential contributions, but an overview of the status‐quo in both academia and practice is missing. The extant literature lacks a comprehensive review of the scientific knowledge on decentralized energy systems, partially attributed to the lack of common terminology. Additionally, it remains unclear what kind of systems are already implemented today worldwide as they have not yet been thoroughly analyzed and described. However, pilot projects provide valuable insights into future applications and operational aspects. To fill these gaps, an extensive review of the current state of literature and practice is conducted. To do so, 64 publications and 56 projects were analyzed and an overview is provided using four criteria: terminology, scope/motivation, application, and technical configuration. These criteria facilitate the understanding of decentralized energy systems needed to spur their development and diffusion. Further advancements of research and practice are discussed. For example, technological learning hinges on a common terminology and on an identification of optimal technical configurations per application. There are both avenues for future research. This article is categorized under: Energy Systems Analysis > Economics and Policy Energy Infrastructure > Systems and Infrastructure Energy and Urban Design > Systems and Infrastructure Energy Research & Innovation > Systems and Infrastructure

Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.336

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:wireae:v:8:y:2019:i:4:n:e336

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=2041-8396

Access Statistics for this article

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment is currently edited by Peter Lund and John Byrne

More articles in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().