Maximisation of Power Demand Real-Time Coverage from Self-Production Photovoltaics on Different Types of Final Users in Mediterranean Climate

The article investigates different scenarios of self-production decentralized photovoltaics, aiming at the maximization of the power demand real-time coverage of five different types of final consumers: typical residences, a typical commercial facility (travel agency), an industrial facility, the Hellenic Mediterranean University main campus and the Crete Aquarium (exhibition facility). The different types of final users impose different daily power demand profiles, which highly affects the potential for real-time concurrent power production from the photovoltaics. All these facilities are located in the insular Greece, with high incident solar radiation and mild ambient temperatures during winter and summer, favoring the maximization of the panels’ efficiency. The photovoltaic plants operate only as self-production plants, without any commercial activity, namely the produced electricity is only used for real-time power demand compensation or storage, without ever being sold in the electricity market. The article is based on the investigation of alternative scenarios regarding the sizing of the photovoltaic plants and their potential support of decentralized electrochemical batteries. The process is based on the computational simulation of the plants, based on annual power demand and production time series of average hourly values. The results show high potential for real-time power demand coverage for the commercial and the exhibition facility (higher than 45% of the annual electricity consumption), thanks to the considerable power consumption during daytime, while this potential remains rather poor for residential buildings (25-28%). The payback periods may be at the range of 4-6 years. The introduction of batteries can increase considerably the annual electricity consumption compensation, reaching percentages higher than 90%, yet with deterioration of the economic feasibility of the investment (payback periods higher than 8 years).