Smart Meter Data to Optimize Roof-top Solar and Battery Size

This paper presents results from a co-optimization model of solar panels and battery capacity for a household using smart meter data-minimizing total energy supply costs. The model undertakes a customer-centric optimization taking into consideration net metering policy, time-of-use grid pricing and inter-annual variability of solar irradiance. It is tested for real household data to assess load and policy parameters that can influence sizing of the combined solar plus battery system. Two case studies are presented for a single-family residential house and a larger community institution. The model's ability to combine solar + battery optimization, together with smart meter data proves useful in deciding the best mix of solar, battery, and electricity purchase or export.