Conference Paper

Proceedings of eSim 2022: 12th Conference of IBPSA-Canada

Comparison of Sensible Thermal Storage and Battery Storage for Excess PV Generation

Jordan McNally, Christopher Baldwin, Cynthia A. Cruickshank
Carleton University, Canada

Abstract: With the price of electricity rising and the cost of PV systems decreasing, there is interest in the residential sector to use PV arrays to reduce home heating/electricity costs. PV systems can store excess electricity in battery storage or as hot water (sensible thermal storage). In Canada, 61% of the residential energy consumption is caused from space heating, where sensible thermal storage could provide economic and energy benefits. Through TRNSYS simulation, this paper compares different sensible thermal storage and battery storage configurations. The simulation results contrast the energy benefits between different storage configurations to a base case without PV generation and suggests economic advantages. The simulations were run for 10-year periods in Toronto, with building loads indicative of two occupants. It was found that a hybrid storage system with large battery storage and a buffer hot water tank can be largely self-consuming with only 4 MWh required from the grid.
Keywords: Sensible storage, photovoltaics, simulation
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