Dynamic modeling of thermal and electrical microgrid of multiapartment in different European locations

In this paper authors investigate the dynamic behaviour of a potential residential microgrid which includes four apartments, a natural gas fuelled m-CHP Stirling engine, a 4 kWp photovoltaic plant, an electrical energy storage consisting of 5.0 kWhe batteries and a natural gas back-up boiler. The thermal and electrical microgrid performance are investigated for three different European locations, namely Brescia, Bruxelles and Oslo. In general, the analysis shows that coupling a m-CHP Stirling engine with a PV plant allows to sensibly extend the selfsufficiency of the microgrid throughout the year. In addition, the use of an electrical energy storage device is of fundamental importance to extend the self-consumption of the electrical energy produced especially in warm and hot seasons. The storage system indeed allows to match the multi-apartment residential consumptions and the renewable production profile. In particular, the electrical energy collected by the PV system during the day-time is partially released during the night-time thus reducing the fossil fuel energy demand. Moreover, the electrical storage system allows to extend the profitability of the Stirling engine operation at nominal load thus increasing the m-CHP efficiency and the self-sufficiency of the microgrid in cold climates. In general, the analysis proves that the developed model can be used as a useful design tool to assess the opportunity of employing alternative energy technologies and different management system strategies for small residential users.