Optimal Design and Performance Analysis of Building Level Microgrids with Battery Energy Storage

In order to accelerate the transition of our electricity system to renewable sources, it is important that buildings participate effectively as distributed generators. However, traditional integration methods for solar energy often add complexity to our electricity system. With the rapidly declining costs of battery systems, building-level microgrids are becoming a viable alternative allowing buildings to generate and use renewable energy locally rather than exporting to the grid, enhancing the resilience of energy supply and improving demand profiles. The proposed work is to develop an optimization methodology to minimize the cost of energy provided by a building-level microgrid. The optimization will be applied to a set of case study buildings in order to assess the benefits of the microgrid on building performance measures including greenhouse gas emissions and grid integration indicators. This work contributes important insights to the overall smart building ecosystem being developed by WZMH Architects.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alan Fung;Kristiina Valter Mai

Student:

Jeremy Lytle

Partner:

WZMH Architects

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Ryerson University