Sensitivity Analysis of Peer-to-peer Photovoltaic Energy Trading in a Community Microgrid in Chile

Abstract

Nowadays, public policies in Chile are geared towards the promotion of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems. However, the prevailing socioeconomic context and the lack of incentive to invest in DERs have posed a challenge to achieving the established goals in the coming years. This paper develops a three-entity architecture model and decision-making algorithms for peer-to-peer (P2P) PV energy trading. It seeks to conduct a sensitivity analysis of a P2P PV energy trading system in a community microgrid, to assess the potential benefits for local communities and to encourage the development of new local public policies aimed at enhancing the profitability of DERs. Various scenarios are compared, both with and without P2P market, considering residential customers (RCs), encompassing both consumers and prosumers with PV systems, with or without battery energy storage systems (BESSs), an aggregator (AG), and utility grid (UG). Daily energy and economic transactions are examined with the aim of reducing the annual electricity bills for each RC, enhancing the profitability of DERs for prosumers, increasing incomes for the AG, and exploring potential benefits for the UG. The load profiles and meteorological data are collected from publicly available databases, and a novel electricity pricing scheme is proposed based on current rates offered by the local UG. The results demonstrate that the P2P market could lead to a reduction in the annual electricity bills by as much as 1.76% for consumers, an increase in annual income of up to 149% for prosumers, and a reduction in the payback period for their DERs by up to 0.4 years. This paper contributes to improving the investment in DER projects and provides a guide for extending the work to different regions of Chile and global emerging economies with DER potential.