International Journal of Energy Research, Vol.44, No.14, 11248-11273, 2020
Optimization of the design of polygeneration systems for the residential sector under different self-consumption regulations
Polygeneration systems enable natural resources to be exploited efficiently, decreasing CO(2)emissions and achieving economic savings relative to the conventional separate production. However, their economic feasibility depends on the legal framework. Preliminary design of polygeneration systems for the residential sector based on the last Spanish self-consumption regulations RD 900/2015 and RD 244/2019 was carried out in Zaragoza, Spain. Both regulations were applied to individual and collective installations. Several technologies, appropriate for the energy supply to residential buildings, for example, photovoltaics, wind turbines, solar thermal collectors, microcogeneration engines, heat pump, gas boiler, absorption chiller, and thermal and electric energy storage were considered candidate technologies for the polygeneration system. A mixed integer linear programming model was developed to minimize the total annual cost of polygeneration systems. Scenarios with and without electricity sale were considered. CO(2)emissions were also calculated to estimate the environmental impact. Results show that RD 900/2015 discourages the investment in self-consumption systems whereas the RD 244/2019 encourages them, especially in renewable energy technologies. Moreover, in economic terms, it is more profitable to invest in collective self-consumption installations over individual installations. However, this does not necessarily represent a significant reduction of CO(2)emissions with respect to individual installations since the natural gas consumption tends to increase as its unit price decreases because of the increase of its consumption level. Thus, more appropriate pricing of natural gas in residential sector, in which its cost would not be reduced when increasing its consumption, would be required to achieve significant CO(2)emissions reduction. In all cases, the photovoltaic panels (PV) are competitive and profitable without subsidies in self-consumption schemes and the reversible heat pump (HP) played an important role for the CO(2)emissions reduction. In a horizon to achieve zero CO(2)emissions, the net metering scheme could be an interesting and profitable alternative to be considered.
Keywords:energy supply systems for buildings;polygeneration systems optimization;renewable energy;self-consumption regulations