Home Based Solar and Battery Optimisation

The aim of this project is to create a model household scan use to optimize their battery and solar performance, for any load size and location within Australia. Initially a literature review will be undertaken of solar panels, batteries, household energy usage, system cost and economics. The background research informed the strategy for building a model and what effects the efficiency of the solar and battery systems. Data was gathered using Homer Pro software. Running test installation, consisting of a simple 1kW solar system, across different locations around Australia at different installation angles and directions data on solar performance was able to be gathered. This data was able to be analysis in Matlab and equations constructed for different variables. These equations were able to be entered into the excel model that was created and from this a model of solar panel performance was able to be created for any location in Australia and installation angle and direction. The battery model consisted of looking at the charge and discharge rate of the battery as well as its storage size. By using this and the solar and load profile already model, IF statements in excel were able to be used to construct a model of the battery. All this was then added to some economic analyses in the model that covered net present cost(NPC), payback period and savings. Using the model the project then looked at optimizing solar and battery systems in three different locations with house sizes ranging from 200 to 75 kWh per Week loads. The model found when optimizing for NPC that a 10kW solar with no battery was the best. For the payback period, a 5 to 3 kWh solar system again with no battery was the best. When looking at savings a solar system of 10 kW with a range of battery size depending on the load was the best. And when optimizing for peak levelling a variety of sized solar and battery was needed depending on the load size. Overall the model was successful in determining the best performance for the needs of a household