Developing an optimization methodology for urban energy resources mix

Abstract

This paper proposes a methodology to optimize the mixture of renewable and alternative energy resources, according to various neighborhood concepts, renewable energy settings and energy sources employed for the operation of buildings. Two neighborhood concepts are explored- a standalone neighborhood, which is independent from the local grid, and a grid-tied neighborhood, which can supply electricity to the grid as well as draw from it, depending on available energy generation from other sources. Renewable energy sources employed in the study consist of photovoltaic technology as well as wind turbines, while alternative energy sources consist of waste to energy. The proposed methodology is applied to a hypothetical mixed-use neighborhood representing a cold northern climate.The results indicate that an electric storage system is required, to achieve a net-zero energy, standalone neighborhood. This can reduce energy system size, which can be otherwise excessive (photovoltaic area can reach up to 280 times the area available in the neighborhood). For a grid-tied neighborhood, the grid can replace the storage system, reducing thus the size of renewable and alternative energy required to fulfill the energy demand. In such case, photovoltaic size can be reduced by up to 67% as compared to the standalone neighborhood, while wind turbines can be significantly reduced (by 85%) or completely eliminated.