Impact of Battery Operating Conditions on Remote Microgrid’s Energy Management System

Energy storage systems (ESSs) play a significant role in a remote microgrid’s energy management system (EMS) by improving its reliability and energy efficiency. Lead-acid batteries are commonly used as ESS in remote microgrids due to comparatively low investment costs. However, the real-time operating conditions of lead-acid (PbA) batteries are quite severe than the standard test conditions which impacts the performance of an EMS and degrades the battery faster. The Schiffer weighted Ah-throughput model was considered in this paper, introducing different weight factors to analyze the operating conditions of PbA batteries. This paper presents the economical aspects of weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and threshold crossing battery cycling strategies on PbA battery operating conditions. Its impact on the yearly operational costs of a remote microgrid and the battery lifetime are analyzed. Results showed that, effective battery cycling strategy can reduce the yearly operational cost by about 1.2% ($1,275) and increase the battery lifetime by 3.47 years. Hence, in the long run, it will reduce the expensive battery replacement cost and will maximize the profit of the system.