Optimized demand side management (DSM) of peak electricity demand by coupling low temperature thermal energy storage (TES) and solar PV

Highlights: • Constraint integer programming was used for optimization of electricity tariffs. • Demand side management was used with PV and TES for peak electric load shifting. • Higher demand can be reduced by low temperature TES compared with solar PV system. • Coupling TES and solar PV technologies can improve the overall system performance. - Abstract: Cooling in the industry sector contributes significantly to the peak demand placed on an electrical utility grid. New electricity tariff structures include high charges for electricity consumption in peak hours which leads to elevated annual electricity costs for high-demanding consumers. Demand side management (DSM) is a promising solution to increase the energy efficiency among customers by reducing their electricity peak demand and consumption. In recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in utilizing DSM techniques with thermal energy storage (TES) and solar PV technologies for peak demand reduction in industrial and commercial sectors. The main objective of the present study is to address the potential for applying optimization-based time-of-use DSM in the industry sector by using cold thermal energy storage and off-grid solar PV to decrease and shift peak electricity demands and to reduce the annual electricity consumption costs. The results show that when cold thermal energy storage and solar PV are coupled together higher annual electricity cost savings can be achieved compared to using these two technologies independently. Additionally, considerable reductions can be seen in electricity power demands in different tariff periods by coupling thermal energy storage with off-grid solar PV.