Optimal design of decentralized energy conversion systems for smart microgrids using decomposition methods

The decomposed method is verified by comparison with the original compact model formulation, proving that both models deviate by less than 1.8%. Both approaches furthermore lead to similar energy systems that are operated similarly, as well. The findings also show that the compact model formulation is only applicable to small- and medium-scale microgrids due to current limitations of computing resources and optimization algorithms, whereas the distributed approach is suitable for even large-scale microgrids. We apply the decomposed method to a large-scale microgrid in order to evaluate economic and ecological benefits of interconnected buildings inside the grid. The results show that with local electricity exchange, costs can be reduced by 4.0% and emissions by even 23.7% for the investigated scenario.