Elsevier

Applied Energy

How much electricity tin we save by using direct current circuits in homes? Understanding the potential for electricity savings and assessing feasibility of a transition towards DC powered buildings

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Highlights

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DC distribution systems are analyzed using monitored appliance and solar PV information.

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DC-distributed PV energy generates savings under existent-globe load and solar profiles.

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Savings from straight-DC are mostly not price-effective in current markets.

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Not-technical hurdles remain before DC can exist widely adopted in Usa homes.

Abstract

Advances in semiconductor-based power electronics and growing direct current loads in buildings have led researchers to reconsider whether buildings should be wired with DC circuits to reduce ability conversions and facilitate a transition to efficient DC appliances. The feasibility, energy savings, and economic science of such systems accept been assessed and proven in data centers and commercial buildings, but the outcomes are still uncertain for the residential sector.

In this work, we assess the technical and economic feasibility of DC circuits using data for 120 traditionally-wired AC homes in Austin, Texas to understand the consequence of highly variable need profiles on DC-powered residences, using appliance-level apply and solar generation data, and performing a Monte Carlo simulation to quantify costs and benefits.

Results prove site free energy savings between 9% and twenty% when solar PV is distributed to all dwelling house appliances. When battery storage for excess solar free energy is considered, these savings increment to 14–25%. At present DC equipment prices, converting all equipment to DC causes levelized almanac costs of electricity to homeowners to roughly double. Yet, by converting only homes' air conditioning condensing units to DC, the costs of direct-DC are greatly reduced and home site energy savings of 7–sixteen% are generated.

In addition to quantifying savings, nosotros find major nontechnical barriers to implementing direct-DC in homes. These include a lack of standards for such systems, a relatively pocket-sized market for DC appliances and components, utility programs designed for AC power, and a workforce unfamiliar with DC. Experience with DC is growing in other sectors, and with fourth dimension this will be transitioned to a broader audience of engineers, electricians, and building inspectors to ensure that non only are the systems themselves rubber, but that the image of direct current circuits becomes less foreign over time. Direct electric current may very well have a place in the residential sector, and inquiry and development should continue to explore other potential benefits that might make a stronger case for a more widespread transition to what at present appears a promising technology.

Keywords

Direct current

Residential

Free energy efficiency

Economics

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.