Modelling and simulation of a Building To Vehicle To Building system layout: case study and parametric analysis

This paper focuses on the assessment of the energy performance of a novel vehicle to building energy management approach, i.e. Building To Vehicle To Building (V2B2), applied to a cluster of buildings connected in a micro-grid, with the aim to accelerate the development of nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) while promoting the deployment of Renewable Energy Sources (RESs). Plug-in electric vehicles are considered as vector devices for renewable energy exchanges among buildings, as well as additional building high-power appliances and electricity sources. The paper analyses the energy and economic performance of different V2B2 schemes, including three main electrical users featuring a basic cluster of human-linked energy systems, such as a residential building, an office building, and an electric vehicle. With the aim to investigate the potentiality of the proposed energy management schemes, a comprehensive parametric analysis, conducted by means of a suitably developed dynamic simulation model, is carried out to find out the optimal design and operating parameters which maximize the self-production and self-consumption of building integrated RES, toward the achievement of the ZEB goal at a cluster level. Simulation results, relative to the Mediterranean weather climate of Naples (South-Italy), show that the exploitation of off-site renewable energy production is remarkable, causing a significant reduction, up to 70%, of fossil fuel consumption from the grid.