Addressing Energy Poverty in the Energy Community: Assessment of Energy, Environmental, Economic, and Social Benefits for an Italian Residential Case Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- (i)
- The assessment of the energy, environmental, economic, and social benefits of a photovoltaic-based REC located in the south of Italy, compared with the case in which an REC does not exist, in order to evaluate the mitigation of EP.
- (ii)
- The definition of a new social indicator to measure the potential of RECs in the mitigation of energy poverty.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Buildings and Users’ Characterization
2.2. Energy Conversion Systems
- R#1: three reversible air-to-air heat pumps (EHPR#1_1/2/3) were installed outdoors to meet the space cooling load of the R#1 user during the summer period. They have a rated cooling capacity of 5.2, 2.6, and 2.6 kWCo, respectively, while the nominal energy efficiency ratio (EER) is 3.68, 4.0, and 4.0, respectively [56].
- R#2: three reversible air-to-air heat pumps (EHPR#2_1/2/3) were installed outdoors to cover the space cooling load of the R#2 user during the summer period. They have a rated cooling capacity of 4.3, 2.5, and 2.5 kWCo, respectively, while the nominal EER is 3.3, 3.6, and 3.6, respectively [57].
- R#3: two reversible air-to-air heat pumps (EHPR#3_1/2) were installed outdoors to meet the space cooling load of the R#2 user during the summer period and the one-time heating demand, such as during the morning in the winter period. They have a rated cooling capacity of 4.2 and 3.4 kWCo, respectively, and the nominal EER is 3.75 for both of them. In addition, the heating capacity of EHPR#3_1/2 is 4.0 and 5.4 kWth, respectively, while the nominal coefficient of performance (COP) is equal to 4.04 and 4.12, respectively [58].
2.3. Model Description
2.4. Methodology
2.4.1. Energy Analysis
2.4.2. Environmental Analysis
2.4.3. Socio-Economic Analysis
3. Results and Discussion
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
d | RES local self-consumption (-) |
E | Energy demand (kWh/y)—(MWh/y) |
E(θ) | Energy demand (kWh)—(MWh) |
EER | Energy efficiency ratio (-) |
f | Percentage of PV investment cost covered by economic mechanism support (%) |
HDD | Heating degree days (-) |
I | Income (EUR/y) |
ISEE | Equivalent economic situation indicator (EUR/y) |
OC | Operating cost (EUR/y) |
c | Unit price (EUR/kWh)- (EUR/m3) |
p | Economic incentive for self-consumption REC (EUR/MWh) |
s | RES load covered (-) |
CO2 emission (kgCO2/y) | |
SPB | Simple payback (y) |
10% | Socio-economic index (-) |
Subscript | |
Co | Cooling |
El | Electric |
PG | Power grid |
pr | Primary |
PV | Photovoltaic |
R | Residential |
REC | Renewable energy community |
SU | Single user |
Sell | Sell |
Sh | Shared |
Th | Thermal |
Greek Symbol | |
α | Electricity emission factor (kgCO2/kWh) |
Efficiency (-) | |
Acronyms | |
ARERA | Energy and Environmental Italian Authority |
CO2 | Carbon dioxide |
EHP | Electric heat pump |
EU | European union |
EP | Energy poverty |
IEMD | Internal Electricity Market Directive |
LIHC | Low income high costs |
M/2 | Low absolute energy expenditure |
2M | High share of energy expenditure in income |
PG | Italian electric grid |
POD | Point of delivery |
PV | Photovoltaic panel |
R | Residential user |
REC | Renewable energy community |
REDII | Renewable Energy Directive |
RES | Renewable energy source |
PG | Power grid |
PS | Primary substation |
SU | Single user |
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Characteristics | Unit | R#1 | R#2 | R#3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Area and volume ratio | (m−1) | 0.66 | 0.66 | 0.70 |
External wall transmittance | (W∙m2∙K−1) | 0.61 | 0.61 | 0.82 |
Roof transmittance | (W∙m2∙K−1) | - | 0.70 | 0.95 |
Inter-floor slabs transmittance | (W∙m2∙K−1) | 0.93 | - | - |
Ground floor transmittance | (W∙m2∙K−1) | - | - | 1.24 |
Window transmittance | (W∙m2∙K−1) | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.7 |
g-value | (-) | 0.76 | 0.76 | 0.76 |
EHP | Cooling Power (kWCo) | Heating Power (kWth) | EER (-) | COP (-) |
---|---|---|---|---|
EHPR#1_1 EHPR#1_2/EHPR#1_3 | 5.2 | 6.0 | 3.68 | 4.0 |
2.6 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 4.0 | |
EHPR#2_1 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 3.3 | 3.75 |
EHPR#2_2/EHPR#2_3 | 2.5 | 3.15 | 3.6 | 4.2 |
EHPR#3_1 | 4.2 | 4 | 3.75 | 4.04 |
EHPR#3_2 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 3.75 | 4.12 |
Parameter | Value |
---|---|
Peak power (kW) | 0.15 |
Solar panel efficiency (%) | 14.4 |
Rated working voltage (V) | 22.5 |
Rated working current (A) | 8.25 |
Open circuit voltage (V) | 18.2 |
Short circuit current (A) | 8.87 |
Nominal operating cell temperature (°C) | 45.0 |
Maximum power temperature factor (%/°C) | −0.46 |
Temperature coefficient of current (%/K) | 0.06 |
Gross area (m2) | 1.69 |
Economic/Social Index | R#1 | R#2 | R#3 |
---|---|---|---|
(EUR/y) | 1663.0 | 1198.8 | 1407.2 |
(EUR/y) | 905.2 | 796.4 | 362.1 |
(EUR/y) | 2568.2 | 1968.3 | 1769.3 |
(EUR/y) | 45,000 | 20,000 | 26,800 |
(EUR/y) | 39,000 | 18,000 | 17,000 |
(%) | 5.71% | 9.84% | 6.60% |
(%) | 6.59% | 10.93% | 10.41% |
Parameters | Symbol | Unit | Value |
---|---|---|---|
Investment cost PV | ICPV | EUR | 18,000 |
Maintenance cost of PV | MC | EUR/y | 1800 |
Year of incentive | a | y | 20 |
Percentage of ICPV covered by economic mechanism support | f | % | 50 |
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Ceglia, F.; Marrasso, E.; Samanta, S.; Sasso, M. Addressing Energy Poverty in the Energy Community: Assessment of Energy, Environmental, Economic, and Social Benefits for an Italian Residential Case Study. Sustainability 2022, 14, 15077. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215077
Ceglia F, Marrasso E, Samanta S, Sasso M. Addressing Energy Poverty in the Energy Community: Assessment of Energy, Environmental, Economic, and Social Benefits for an Italian Residential Case Study. Sustainability. 2022; 14(22):15077. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215077
Chicago/Turabian StyleCeglia, Francesca, Elisa Marrasso, Samiran Samanta, and Maurizio Sasso. 2022. "Addressing Energy Poverty in the Energy Community: Assessment of Energy, Environmental, Economic, and Social Benefits for an Italian Residential Case Study" Sustainability 14, no. 22: 15077. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215077