4. Battery Simulation Study
Using Energy Toolbase (ETB), we were able to generate battery cycles for the two battery systems, as included in deliverable 2.B. Conceptual System Design—Energy Production and Battery Cycles. These cycles are based on the consumption data from UNL’s 2019 electricity usage and models what battery discharge cycles could look like over the course of a year in an export of 15-min intervals. The Net Usage interval data is also exported from ETB. The full Battery Cycles and Net Usage interval data are also included in deliverable 2.B. Conceptual System Design—Energy Production and Battery Cycles. Examples of the Battery Cycles for ASC and East Campus as well as the Total Net Usage exports are shown below in Figures 4.1-4.3. All values in these example images have units of kW.
Energy Toolbase also plots the Current Demand, Net Demand, Solar PV Power, and Battery Power in a live/interactive graph. An example for the month of January is shown below in Figure 4.4.
Because UNL’s utility rate has a very high demand charge rate, we made this a focus when designing our battery system. The maximum demand before and after the solar + storage system for each month is also recorded. These graphs are listed below in Figures 4.5-4.16 and are also recorded in Table 4.1. This is used to find the demand charge reduction. The solar production data is taken directly from our Aurora design outputs. On some days, the production is not very high – probably due to simulating a cloudy day. For most months, this directly leads to the day with the maximum demand after the solar + storage is installed
