A Low-Voltage DC Backbone with Aggregated RES and BESS: Benefits Compared to a Traditional Low-Voltage AC System

Hakim Azaioud, Robbert Claeys, Jos Knockaert, Lieven Vandevelde and Jan Desmet
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Hakim Azaioud: EELab/Lemcko, Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium
Robbert Claeys: EELab/Lemcko, Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium
Jos Knockaert: EELab/Lemcko, Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium
Lieven Vandevelde: EELab, Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
Jan Desmet: EELab/Lemcko, Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-28

Abstract: The increasing penetration of PV into the distribution grid leads to congestion, causing detrimental power quality issues. Moreover, the multiple small photovoltaic (PV) systems and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) result in increasing conversion losses. A low-voltage DC (LVDC) backbone to interconnect these assets would decrease the conversion losses and is a promising solution for a more optimal integration of PV systems. The multiple small PV systems can be replaced by shared assets with large common PV installations and a large BESS. Sharing renewable energy and aggregation are activities that are stimulated by the European Commission and lead to a substantial benefit in terms of self-consumption index (SCI) and self-sufficiency index (SSI). In this study, the benefit of an LVDC backbone is investigated compared to using a low-voltage AC (LVAC) system. It is found that the cable losses increase by 0.9 percent points and the conversion losses decrease by 12 percent points compared to the traditional low-voltage AC (LVAC) system. The SCI increases by 2 percent points and the SSI increases by 6 percent points compared to using an LVAC system with shared meter. It is shown that an LVDC backbone is only beneficial with a PV penetration level of 65% and that the BESS can be reduced by 22% for the same SSI.

Keywords: LVDC; self-sufficiency index; load aggregation; power converters; photovoltaic; efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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