The impact of PV, battery and Immersun on the Meadows community: data analysis of Project SENSIBLE

High energy prices and the goal of net zero by 2050 are putting pressure on the lives of people in the UK. Project SENSIBLE is a programme that ended five years ago with the goal of saving energy costs and carbon emissions by installing renewable energy devices in houses within the Meadows community in order to achieve self-consumption of electricity. In this paper, the data records of the project are collated and the relationship between PV, battery, Immersun and energy trading is analysed separately from the perspective of electricity exchange. The impact on economic and carbon emission indicators from different operating strategies of renewable energy devices is finally summarised. Firstly, the typical daily load profile of a single house is summarised in a regular manner and it is concluded that the peak energy use is almost entirely in periods of high rate. Secondly, the contribution of different control strategies to peak shaving is analysed, concluding that battery can reduce electricity sales by more than 60% and use this electricity for their own consumption, resulting in more efficient use of PV output. On this basis, by considering the change in electricity price during a day, it is concluded that the combination of PV and storage devices can reduce the amount of electricity bought during periods of high rate by more than 50%, with positive impact on the reduction of carbon emissions. Finally, a simulation of three houses with renewable energy equipment supporting one house with conventional energy sources is presented to show that the formation of a community energy network can further reduce the exported energy with very low income, improving the use of PV output and reducing energy cost. As there is still excess PV output, the use of heat pumps will be considered in the future to further improve energy efficiency.