Optimal Cogeneration Technology Selection for Residential and Commercial Buildings

Abstract

ABSTRACT The energy requirements for most residential and commercial buildings show both annual or seasonal, and daily variations. In addition, depending on the electrical rate schedule and location, there can be time-of-use variation in the prices a customer pays for electricity. Such facts make it harder to select (a) the best-fit equipment for the host building and (b) the best operating strategy for the selected equipment. This article proposes a mixed integer programming (MILP) model to help decide the optimal make up of a prospect cogeneration system as applied to a residential complex located in Zaragoza, Spain. The model considers the possibility of whether to use or not a set of proposed alternative technologies within a previously defined superstructure. Such superstructure is defined through binary variables and takes into account the optimal operation of all feasible combinations of technologies throughout a typical meteorological year. The model's objective function is to minimize the total a...