Reducing the need for electrical storage by coupling solar PVs and precooling in three residential building types in the phoenix climate

The increasing residential air-conditioning demand and the growing number of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems installed in the residential sector have increased electrical net energy demand fluctuation. These severe fluctuations lead to a need for flexible generation capacities that can rapidly meet the fluctuating demands. To combat these fluctuations, utility companies have introduced different price plans to financially incentivize customers to reduce their demand during certain hours of the day, in essence, attempting to make residential electricity demand constant (or "flat ") for the daytime hours. Flattening the net demand not only reduces homeowners' operation costs, it also enhances stability of the electricity grid by decreasing the need for flexible generation plants that typically use more fossil fuels. Therefore, shifting electricity consumption from peak to off-peak hours promotes economic and environmental savings. This paper leverages simulation modeling and experimental work to explore the feasibility of coupling precooling with photovoltaics (PVs) to achieve flat residential net demand in three Phoenix, AZ area homes. Results show that precooling coupled with PVs provides economic benefits of up to $160 annually for homeowners while simultaneously reducing demand fluctuations by up to 90%.