PHOTOVOLTAIC AND BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS IN SHOPPING MALLS: ENERGY AND COST ANALYSIS OF AN ITALIAN CASE STUDY

Nowadays, due to the high diffusion and the lower cost of photovoltaic (PV) systems, there is an increasing interest in combining PV generators with battery energy storage systems (BESS) to improve load match and grid interaction, giving more flexibility to the building. The aim of this work is twofold. First, considering a specific building energy demand (i.e. a supermarket), an energy evaluation of the PV-BESS system and grid exchange is performed though dynamic simulations. Then, a cost analysis is carried out with the evaluation of the return of investment (ROI) both with and without BESS. Finally, the achievable percentage of carbon dioxide reduction with the inclusion of PV-BESS system is also estimated. The main purpose of this work is to show when the BESS becomes cost effective for the Italian market. The described analysis is part of the CommONEnergy FP7 EU project.