AAE-E3070 Electrical Energy Storage Systems Assignment 1

Production, Consumption and Capacity

1 Introduction
This assignment deals with sizing of an electrical energy storage system in a simplified
framework. The sizing is based on a predefined scenario, and given energy production
and consumption profiles. After this assignment, you should be able to
1. Calculate produced and consumed energies from a predefined production and con-
sumption profiles.
2. Calculate the needed energy storage capacity of an energy storage system based on
production and consumption profiles and a predefined scenario.
3. Determine the rated power of the energy storage components.

A short individual report is to be written on this assignment. Submit your report as a

pdf file to the MyCourses portal no later than on Friday, 19.8.2022, at 16:00. In your
report, answer briefly the numbered questions given inside this kind of framed boxes.
The report should be clearly and consistently written, preferably using a computer.
The assignment will be graded on a scale of 0. . . 10. You are encouraged to discuss
with other students but copying solutions from other students is not allowed! The
reports will be checked for plagiarism.

2 Preliminaries
2.1 Electric Power

Source u Device

Figure 1: A simple electrical system.

Fig. 1 shows a simple electrical system where the energy is transmitted from a source
(such as an electric grid or sunlight and solar cell) to a device (such as a battery, motor
or refrigerator). Instantaneous electric power p(t) [W, kW] is directly proportional to the
current i(t) [A] flowing through an energy port to the device and voltage u(t) [V] across
the device terminals
p(t) = u(t) · i(t) (1)
The energy port typically consists of electrical wires between the source and device.

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AAE-E3070 Electrical Energy Storage Systems Assignment 1

The voltage and current can generally be conisered as vectors in a multi-wire, such as
three-phase, system. For a two-wire direct current (DC) system, the instantaneous power
is pdc (t) = udc (t)idc (t).
In a single-phase, two-wire, alternating current (AC) system, the voltage and current
are ideally sinusoidal
√ √
u1 (t) = 2U sin (ωt) and i1 (t) = 2I sin (ωt − φ) (2)

where U and I stand for the root-mean-square (RMS) values of the voltage and current,
respectively, ω is the angular frequency of the system and φ is the phase shift between
the voltage and current. The instantaneous power of the single-phase system is
√ √
p1ph (t) = u1 (t)i1 (t) = 2U sin (ωt) · 2I sin (ωt − φ)
= U I cos φ −U I cos (2ωt − φ) (3)
| {z }
=P

where the average value P = U I cos φ over the fundamental period T = 2π/ω is called
active power. It can be seen that the instantaneous power in single-phase systems is
oscillating at twice the system frequency.
In the balanced three-phase system, where the RMS phase voltages equals U and
RMS phase currents I, the instantaneous power is
3
X
p3ph (t) = um (t)im (t) = 3U I cos φ (4)
m=1

It can be seen that unlike in the single-phase system, the power is not oscillating at 2ω. It
is constant and three times the average power in the single-phase system. It is remarkable
that three times more power can be transferred by increasing the number of wires from
two of the single-phase system to three of the three-phase system.

2.2 Energy
Energy [J, kWh] transferred through an energy port equals the time integral of the
instantaneous power. To give an example, energy transferred between t0 and t can be
written as Z t
E(t) = p(τ )dτ (5)
t0

Moreover, when the voltage and current are constant, such as u(t) = Udc and i(t) = Idc ,
the instantaneous power is constant p(t) = Udc Idc and the energy is then E(t) = Udc Idc (t−
t0 ).
For the single-phase AC system, that have constant RMS voltage U (t) = U and
current I(t) = I, the transferred energy equals
Z t Z t
E(t) = u1 (τ )i1 (τ )dτ = [U I cos φ − U I cos (2ωt − φ)]dτ = P (t − t0 ) (6)
t0 t0

where P = U I cos φ and when (t − t0 ) equals multiple of the fundamental period T =

2π/ω. In other words, the energy is the time integral of the active power P . Therefore,

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for time periods equal to multiple of the fundamental period T , the transferred energy
can be written using the active power flowing through the energy port as
Z t Z t
E(t) = P (τ )dτ = KU (τ )I(τ ) cos φ(τ )dτ (7)
t0 t0

where K = 1 for the single-phase system and K = 3 for the three-phase system. Such as
the active power, the RMS voltage U (t), RMS current I(t), and the displacement power
factor cos φ(t) can vary with time.

2.3 Energy storage device characteristics

In electrical systems, to ensure safe and predictable operation, voltages, currents and pow-
ers have to stay within limits specified by the system operators and device manufactures,
to name a few. Let us consider that the device in Fig. 1 is for storing energy. Energy stor-
age devices have some typical limits, such as the maximum charging power Pch,max that
is the highest active power (peak value) that the device can draw, and the maximum dis-
charging power Pd,max that is the highest power that the device can supply. In other words,
the active power of the device has to stay within the range −Pd,max < P (t) < Pch,max .
Usually a manufacturer specify rated values (nameplate values) for the power, current
and voltage of the device. For a storage device, the rated power 1 during charge Pch,n and
discharge Pd,n refers to maximum active power that can continuously flow through the
device terminals during these operation modes. It is to be noted that absolute maximum
value (peak value) is typically different than the rated value. The device can operate
with rated power continuously but may allow short-time overloading |P (t)| > Pch,n or
|P (t)| > Pd,n . The allowed overloading time depends on, among the other things, the
overloading power and thermal time constants of the device.
The energy storage device can also be characterized by its energy storage capacity
that is the maximum amount of energy that can be stored in it. It is typical, that energy
storage devices do not allow charge or discharge the whole energy capacity at full, rated,
power due to practical limitations. In order do charge or discharge the device with the
rated power, a certain minimum amount of energy has to be kept in the storage system.
A key performance indicator related to energy storage systems is efficiency. When
reading the literature one may find different definitions for efficiency depending of the
context. However, a general definition is
Pout
ηp = (8)
Pin
where the efficiency ηp is the ratio of the useful output power Pout to the input power Pin
of an energy conversion system. Furthermore, the round-trip efficiency ηrt of the energy
storage device is the ratio of the energy recovered during the discharge Ed to the energy
Ech used to charge the device as
Ed
ηrt = (9)
Ech
1
In some materials, a different terminology, such as nominal power, rated power capacity or rated
capacity, is used. It is to be noted that these technical terms may also refer to other definitions depending
on the context.

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3 Studied System
3.1 Components
Energy storage devices can be installed in various systems and applications. Fig. 2 illus-
trates a generalized diagram of a system where the components are divided into energy
sources and sinks. An energy storage device is connected in between the sources and
sinks. The electricity can be produced and consumed in the forms of alternating current
(AC) or dicrect current (DC). Therefore, electrical energy conversion (EEC) is needed in
the system. Furthermore, energy in the storage device can be in various forms such as
mechanical, chemical, electrical or electrochemical. Therefore, energy conversion (EC) is
generally needed between the electrical subsystem and the storage device.
Energy source Energy sink
DC
EEC EEC DC Loads
Pp Pc
AC or DC
Grid EEC EEC AC Loads
AC
Pe

EC

Storage

Energy storage system

Figure 2: Energy storage device in a system.

3.2 Scenarios
Design of an energy storage system is strongly related to the application and way the
system is used. However, some common scenarios can be identified regardless of the
application.
Scenario 1: The energy storage system solves the problem of availability of energy
sources. For example:
• Day-to-night shift in off-grid photovoltaic power generation
• Transition from charging to driving mode in electric vehicles
Scenario 2: The energy storage system reacts to fast and strong power variations of
loads or production in decentralized systems in order to smooth the power drawn from
primary sources. For example:
• When the load power increases faster than the response time of the local generation
in a micro grid, the power difference is supplied by an energy storage component.
• In a vehicle, a power source (such as internal combustion engine or fuel-cell) is sized
economically based on mean load power whereas the peak power demand is taken
out from a storage component.

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3.3 Consumption and production profiles

Typical or standard production and consumption profiles can be drafted for various ap-
plications. For example, Fig. 3 illustrates a typical shape of a photovoltaic (PV) power
production profile on a clear day (blue solid line). The power of the PV plant is at a peak
value around midday and zero during the night. On the other hand, Fig. 3 also shows
the load power of a household consumer (red dashed line). The load profile have peaks
during the morning and afternoon hours when the home appliances are actively used.
When these production and consumption curves are plotted in a same figure, it becomes
clear that there are hours during the day when the consumption is larger than production
and vice versa. This comparison could be relevant in the case of a household or summer
cottage having its own PV plant.

Power (kW)

Production
Consumption

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time (h)
Figure 3: Production and consumption profiles.

Let us consider a household having its own renewable energy source. Table 1 gives
numerical data of the power Pp produced by the PV system of the house as a function
of the hours of a day. The table also gives the load power Pc consumed by the household
during the same day.

1. Plot power production and consumption profiles as a function of time as in

Figure 3. Then, determine the power difference Pp − Pc of the production and
consumption. Plot the obtained result as a function of time. Show the plotted
figures in your report. (1 p)
Note: Do not use any filters or smoothing in your plots in this question or
forthcoming questions.
2. Consider an additional energy source (such as electric grid or internal combus-
tion engine generator) in parallel with the PV system. What is the power and
energy drawn from the additional energy source in order to cover consumption?
Illustrate the power P (t) and energy E(t) from the additional source as a func-
tion of time in your report. What the household can do when the produced
power is higher than the consumption if the energy is not stored in the house?
(1 p)

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Table 1: Production and consumption data

Time (h) Production Pp (kW) Consumption Pc (kW)

0-1 0 0.1
1-2 0 0.1
2-3 0 0.1
3-4 0 0.1
4-5 0 0.1
5-6 0.05 0.1
6-7 0.15 0.45
7-8 0.3 0.55
8-9 0.5 0.3
9-10 0.75 0.1
10-11 0.9 0.1
11-12 1.2 0.1
12-13 1.3 0.1
13-14 1.1 0.1
14-15 0.7 0.1
15-16 0.5 0.1
16-17 0.3 0.6
17-18 0.15 0.8
18-19 0.05 0.8
19-20 0 0.8
20-21 0 1.0
21-22 0 1.0
22-23 0 0.2
23-24 0 0.1

4 Energy storage
Consider that an energy storage device is installed in the household electricity system
described earlier. First, it is designed to solve problem of energy availability in day-to-
night shift of the PV power generation (cf. Scenario 1 in Section 3.2). Then, it is designed
to smooth the power drawn from a primary source (cf. Scenario 2 in Section 3.2).

3. Scenario 1: Consider that the energy storage device is used to store all excess
energy generated by the PV system to cover consumption during the day. What
is the minimum energy storage capacity (kWh) of the device? (1 p)
4. What should be the rated power of the device at least in charging and discharg-
ing in Scenario 1? (1 p)
5. Consider that the storage device used in Scenario 1 has an initial energy of 1.5
kWh at the beginning of the day. Plot the energy stored in the device E(t) as
a function of the time within the day, and show and comment on the resulting
figure in your report. (1 p)

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6. Scenario 2: Consider that the household is off from the electricity grid and the
household has a fuel-cell system in parallel with the PV plant. The fuel cell
system is sized economically such that its rated power is selected to equal the
time average of the consumption power over January. In the sizing, it is assumed
that the household’s total energy consumption in January is 300 kWh. Calculate
rated power of the fuel-cell system. Furthermore, it is a winter day and the PV
system produces zero power all day. The output power of the fuel-cell system
equals its rated power. The consumption of the day is given in Table 1. An
energy storage device is used to cover power peaks and achieve power balance
in the system during the day. What is the minimum energy storage capacity of
the device in this scenario assuming that the initial energy of the storage system
is 0 kWh at t = 0? How the energy E(t) in the storage behaves as a function of
the time? Draw a figure. (1 p)
7. Consider now that the round-trip efficiency of the storage device is 0.72 and the
charging efficiency is 0.8. Furthermore, assume that the charging and discharging
efficiencies are constant and do not depend on power. How this will change the
results of the previous question? Draw a figure to compare E(t) results in your
report. (1 p)
8. What should be the rated power of the storage device at least in Scenario 2? (1
p)

5 Reflection
In order to reflect what you have learned, ask, for example, the following questions from
yourself.
• How does this assignment relate to my own experience?
• What kind of questions popped into my head and what I’m still thinking?
• What have I actually learned?
• What supported my learning?
• What I would like to learn?

9. Write a short learning log (max. 1/3 page) that reflects your thoughts on the
assignment and questions it raised. (1 p)

Give Us Feedback
In order to help us to estimate the student workload and improve this assignment, please
give us feedback. (1 p)

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10. How many hours did you use to do this assignment?

11. Is the assignment: very easy, easy, average, difficult, or very difficult?
12. How we could improve this assignment? Other comments?

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