Residential Photovoltaic Energy Sharing System Under Increasing Block Pricing Structure and its Business Opportunity

In a multifamily house sharing a common photovoltaic (PV) system, a PV energy sharing system (PESS) is required to distribute PV energy to each home. Under increasing block pricing (IBP), the rate per kWh increases in proportion to total energy consumption. The best way to reduce total energy cost is to avoid high rate prices. Therefore, this paper proposes an effective PESS to reduce total energy cost in a multifamily house. The PESS allots more PV energy to large energy-consuming homes to avoid high rate prices. It is assumed that four residential homes at four different price tiers consume 2,600 kWh per month and a 10 kW PV system is installed on the common rooftop and generates 1,200 kWh per month. The evaluation results show that, compared to the equal distribution, total energy cost reduction is 8.6% and the payback year is reduced by 0.66 (8.65 to 7.99) years. Energy service company (ESCO) can get additional profits using this proposed scheme. The implemented prototype PESS shows the feasibility. The proposed PESS is expected to make residential PV systems widely deployed and motivate an ESCO's business expansion in residential areas.