Hybrid AC and DC smart home resilient architecture Transforming prosumers in UniRCons

Abstract

Todays technological developments are drivers for new solutions towards massive renewables deployments resulting in increased network challenges. The paper presents a new approach for prosumers having such a local PV production and storage devices which allows, with adequate design, the user to change from classic prosumer to consumer-only from grid perspective, with enhanced efficiency and resilience based on a hybrid (AC and DC) architecture. Three use-cases are presented: PV behind the meter, PV and storage behind the meter and a newly proposed UniRCon (Unidirectional Resilient Consumer) architecture. This use-cases analysis considers four timeline horizons (2018, 2020, 2022, and 2025). It is shown for the selected profiles of consumption and production that PV plus storage behind the meter bring savings, as recognized and expected by today trend of business-cases, and that the complete UniRCon architecture steps in even with more savings together with higher resilience against the grid outages. The UniRCon solution gives also better ramp behaviour during the evening period, compared with the duck curve expected to challenge power systems with high PV penetration.