Impact of demand profiles on grid-interactive photovoltaic systems in Bloemfontein: A case study

Abstract

In this paper the impact brought by different demand sector profiles on the daily operational cost and optimal scheduling of grid connected photovoltaic system with bidirectional power flow is analysed for the specific case of Bloemfontein in South Africa. For this purpose, residential, commercial and industrial daily load curves are used to estimate daily load demands. For comparison purposes, three load profiles representing the demands from the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, have been used and normalized to display the same daily energy consumption level with different demand patterns. The results of the simulations, obtained using Matlab 2016, have revealed that for the same energy consumption and renewable resources, the running expenses of any proposed scheme are mainly dependent on the demand sector. Consequently, it can be recommended that in Bloemfontein and South Africa in general more focus should be on implementing grid-connected renewable hybrid energy with storage system in the commercial and industrial sectors instead of in the residential sector.