Performance and Economic Assessment of a Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Power Plant with a Storage System: A Comparison between the North and the South of Italy

Ferdinando Chiacchio, Fabio Famoso, Diego D’Urso and Luca Cedola
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Ferdinando Chiacchio: Department of Electrical, Electronical and Computer Engineering, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95025 Catania, Italy
Fabio Famoso: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95025 Catania, Italy
Diego D’Urso: Department of Electrical, Electronical and Computer Engineering, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95025 Catania, Italy
Luca Cedola: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Roma, Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-25

Abstract: Grid-connected low voltage photovoltaic power plants cover most of the power capacity installed in Italy. They offer an important contribution to the power demand of the utilities connected but, due to the nature of the solar resource, the night-time consumption can be satisfied only withdrawing the energy by the national grid, at the price of the energy distributor. Thanks to the improvement of storage technologies, the installation of a system of battery looks like a promising solution by giving the possibility to increase auto-consumption dramatically. In this paper, a model-based approach to analyze and discuss the performance and the economic feasibility of grid-connected domestic photovoltaic power plants with a storage system is presented. Using as input to the model the historical series (2008–2017) of the main ambient variables, the proposed model, based on Stochastic Hybrid Fault Tree Automaton, allowed us to simulate and compare two alternative technical solutions characterized by different environmental conditions, in the north and in the south of Italy. The performances of these systems were compared and an economic analysis, addressing the convenience of the storage systems was carried out, considering the characteristic useful-life time, 20 years, of a photovoltaic power plant. To this end the Net Present Value and the payback time were evaluated, considering the main characteristics of the Italian market scenario.

Keywords: renewable energy; Stochastic Hybrid Automaton; Monte Carlo simulation; cash-flow analysis; net present value; discounted payback time (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: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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