A tool for the simulation of large PV-diesel-systems with different dispatch strategies

Abstract

Hybrid energy systems have the potential to bring modern energy services to the 17% of the global population with no access to electricity. The use of diesel generators to provide power for such applications has been the standard for several decades, but due to decreasing prices of photovoltaics, hybrid systems are becoming more common. As a special challenge expanding existing diesel generators with photovoltaics leads to increased dynamic specification and non-favored operation states for the diesel engine. While it is common to limit the photovoltaics or to add a battery storage to reduce non-favorite operation states, this paper presents load shifting and control as a solution for dispatch. 25 different households are simulated including in total 108 different devices and in total 1737 individual electrical consumers. The devices are operated based on ratings of the users to improve the overall subjective satisfaction with the control.