Simulating a Compressed Air Energy Storage System for a Net Zero Energy Building in Tropics

Meeting the demand in electricity for houses or buildings provided by means of photovoltaic panels is relatively tricky, especially because of the stochastic character of solar radiation. There are some solutions in terms of storage and among them, the one consisting in converting electricity in high-pressure compressed air, seems promising. This option is under investigation in a building of teaching classes at Reunion University (a French island situated in the Indian Ocean, at the east of Madagascar). The aim in terms of consumption is 25 kWh(fe).m(NFA)(-2).year(-1) leading, if possible to a NetZEB (Zero Energy Building). Therefore, it has been envisaged to produce the electricity by means of PV panels, to consume the major part and to store the extra production for use at night and during periods of overcast sky. The solution that has been investigated, consists in compressing air in high-pressure storage tanks and to produce electricity later using a turbine. A dynamic numerical model has been built, taking a specific given load profile and local climatic data into consideration, in order to estimate the production. The whole system depends mainly on the PV panel area, the storage tank volume and the pressure range. The objective is to reduce the amount of energy provided by the external grid to the minimum, leading to the maximum autonomy of this system. First results have been obtained and are explained in terms of pressure and power evolution in the final section of this paper.