Effects of smart meter time resolution when analyzing photovoltaic self-consumption system on a daily and annual basis

Abstract

The management of photovoltaic self-consumption systems is based mainly on updating energetic parameters such as generation and household power consumption connected via smart devices. The expected rapid increasing volume of data collected with different time resolutions is surely a topic that deserves great attention. The choice of a proper recording interval should balance the amount of monitored data and a proper energy analysis in order not only to take effective and timely decisions but also to help this technology to be more efficient. In the literature, only specific nominal array powers for annual reporting period or an array power range for daily reporting period have been considered. In this context, the error, when matching photovoltaic generation and household power consumption profiles considering different recording intervals (1, 10, 15, 30 and 60 min) and different reporting periods (daily and annual), will be estimated as a function of the array power (up to 10 kWp) for five households and a resident’s association. Results depend on the reporting periods and it may be advisable to use 1 min and 10 min of recording intervals in order to estimate performance metrics in this type of system for a daily and annual basis, respectively.