Model Predictive Control of Building On/Off HVAC Systems to Compensate Fluctuations in Solar Power Generation

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17 Scopus citations

Abstract

The high variability in solar photovoltaic (PV) power production causes voltage variations temporally and spatially on distribution feeders and substations. To tackle this problem, we propose absorbing most of the PV power generation locally by building loads such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units to minimize the impact on the grid and reduce the need for large energy storage devices. In this paper, we formulate a mixed integer quadratic optimization problem to optimally dispatch a fleet of on/off HVAC units to consume most of PV power generation locally while maintaining occupants comfort and hardware constraints. On/off HVAC units are widely available in residential buildings in addition to many small to medium size commercial buildings. Simulation results show that by assigning the proper number of aggregated HVAC units, the proposed mechanism achieves good PV tracking performance without jeopardizing occupants comfort. This study concludes that most of the PV generation can be consumed by building loads with the help of proper control strategies, thereby permitting to increase solar PV penetration levels.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2018 9th IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems, PEDG 2018
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Print)9781538667057
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 27 2018
Event9th IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems, PEDG 2018 - Charlotte, United States
Duration: Jun 25 2018Jun 28 2018

Publication series

Name2018 9th IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems, PEDG 2018

Conference

Conference9th IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems, PEDG 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityCharlotte
Period06/25/1806/28/18

Funding

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy.

FundersFunder number
SunShot National Laboratory
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

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