Value Added Sequential Services for BTM Storage when Paired with PV Systems

Behind-the-meter battery energy storage systems can reduce the electricity bill for those customers with photovoltaic installations by shifting solar energy from low-cost to high-cost periods in areas that offer Time-of-Use rates. However, this single BES application alone generally results in long and unacceptable period to recover the investment. In order to increase the revenue stream and accelerate the battery’s Net Present Value into positive territory, this paper proposes a second BES service of energy arbitrage that is operated by the local electric utility or aggregator in the regional Energy Imbalance Market (EIM). The proposed method is simple and does not require complicated co-optimization algorithms since the two services are executed in sequence with no time overlap. The approach is illustrated by a case study that utilizes real residential customer load demand, PV power generation, electricity rates and incentives in Southwest US.