Energy Storage System Sizing for a Grid-Tied PV System: Case Study in Malaysia

Energy storage systems (ESS) have recently emerged as a prevalent solution for mitigating the variability of intermittent renewable energy sources. One of the primary challenges associated with ESS is their cost. This paper aims to explore methods for reducing the size of ESS without compromising performance. Data was collected from a grid-tied 2MW PV unit in Malaysia over several days, as many variables exhibit significant fluctuations from hour to hour due to solar irradiation. Python code was developed to analyze the effects of varying ESS sizes on power grid smoothing. Both high-power density devices and high-energy density devices were tested, and the impact of changing output period durations was investigated. The output should remain stable for no less than five minutes, which is the minimum acceptable timeframe. SIMULINK was utilized to simulate the recommended ESS size, employing a vanadium redox battery (VRB) as the high-energy density device and supercapacitors (SC) as the high-power density device.