Scheduling residential battery storage with solar PV: Assessing the benefits of net metering

In this paper we propose a linear program (LP)-based algorithm to schedule battery storage co-located with residential solar photovoltaics (PV), when excess generation is compensated via net metering. While the objective of this LP-based approach is to maximize the operational savings that accrue to customers, an undesirable consequence to the utility is reverse power flow during the peak pricing period. We show in this paper that it is possible to balance the objective of the utility in limiting reverse power flow, with the customer objective of increasing operational savings, in the context of net metering. To balance the specified utility and customer objectives we employ a quadratic program (QP)-based algorithm, which explicitly penalizes reverse power flow. To complete our assessment of net metering, both the LP-based and QP-based scheduling algorithms are applied to measured load and generation data from 145 residential customers located in an Australian distribution network. The results of this case study confirm the absence of reverse power flow when all customers employ a QP-based battery schedule, with the majority of customers exhibiting operational savings.