Performance of a grid connected residential photovoltaic system with energy storage

Abstract

In 1995, Salt River Project (SRP), a public power utility located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, collaborated with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) to initiate a research project to evaluate the feasibility of using a photovoltaic (PV) power system with battery energy storage to match PV output with residential customer peak energy demand periods. The PV power system, a 2.4 kW PV array with 25.2 kWh of energy storage, was designed and installed by the Southwest Technology Development Institute (SWTDI) at an SRP-owned facility, known as the Chandler Research House during August 1995. This paper presents an overview of the system design, operation and performance.