Title:

Dynamic Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Residential Solar Photovoltaic Systems and Their Integration into the Centralized Network

Over the last decade, solar energy generation and utilization have increased, primarily driven by environmental concerns related to fossil fuels as well as various incentive programs that aim to cut down its initial installation cost. The emerging large penetration of solar PV systems has led to interests in understanding the environmental and economic sustainability of their adoption as well as their integration in the centralized power supply networks. The environmental and economic performances of distributed PV systems vary temporally and spatially, influenced by factors such as household characteristics, energy demand, available solar radiation, ambient temperature, wind speed, utility rate designs, and policy incentives. Moreover, management actions such as demand-side battery dispatch strategies also influence PV’s environmental and economic performances. Achieving an optimized PV adoption scenario can critically enhance the sustainability and resiliency of the current power supply regime. However, current analyses of solar PV adoption scenarios remain largely static, with limited temporal and spatial considerations. To achieve the overarching objective, an integrated dynamic life cycle modeling framework was proposed and developed based upon system dynamics modeling incorporated with life cycle cost analysis and life cycle assessment. Firstly, a distributed solar PV system model was developed to assess the economic and environmental performances of PVs. Varied system configurations (e.g., number of panels and batteries), temporal and spatial factors (e.g., solar radiation and demand patterns) were simulated to assess their influence on life cycle economic and environmental outcomes of PVs. The adaptability of PVs will be further addressed based upon the influence of these factors. Secondly, varied energy management strategies were incorporated into the framework to assess their influence on the dynamic life cycle economic and environmental outcomes of PVs. Energy management variations of time-of-use utility rate design and battery dispatch strategies were integrated into the modeling to illustrate the influence of PVs on the centralized power supply. A five-unit prototype house in Boston, MA is selected as our case study.

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