Mitigation of peak loads with solar energy in an enterprise

Abstract

The electricity consumption in enterprises has a significant share in the overall energy consumption. One of the main changes for the electricity consumers in Estonia has been the hourly-based billing that for larger electricity consumers (usually industries) was implemented from April 2010. What is more, these consumers usually have to make contracts with power companies with specific conditions. One of the conditions usually applied is, that the larger electricity consumers have a consumption-based threshold: when the energy consumption in a single hour exceeds a certain limit, a higher price has to be paid for the electricity consumed over the before mentioned limit. This above-normal demand from the electrical grid during a short period of time can also be described as a peak load. In the current paper renewable electricity that would be generated on-site using PV-panels is considered for the mitigation of these peak loads in enterprises. An enterprise that is located in a rural area in Central-Estonia and is connected to the main Estonian Electricity Network Operator was chosen as an example case for the analysis. The simulated renewable energy system is connected to the grid and therefore has no need for storage equipment.