Optimal Prosumer Asset Planning Considering Energy Storage and PV Units

The use of renewable energy sources and battery energy storage system (BESS) has increased among customers in the distribution system, transforming traditional loads into active prosumers. Therefore, methodologies are needed to provide prosumers with tools to optimize their investments and increase business opportunities. In this paper, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation is proposed to solve for optimal sizes of prosumer assets, considering the use of a BESS and photovoltaic (PV) units. The objective is to minimize the total cost of the system which is defined as the combination of solar PV system investment, BESS investment, maintenance costs of assets, and the cost of electricity. The developed method defines optimal sizes of PV units, power and energy capacities of the BESS, and the optimal value for initial energy stored in the BESS. The proposed model was tested for three cases. The three cases provide a varying combination of the use of grid power and the use of prosumer assets. The optimal values from each case were compared with each other and the results show that there is potential to achieve more economic plans for prosumer asset sizes.