Considering the intermittency of renewable energy systems, a sizing andscheduling model is proposed for a finite number of static electric loads. Themodel objective is to maximize solar energy utilization with and withoutstorage. For the application of optimal load size selection, the energyproduction of a solar photovoltaic is assumed to be consumed by a finite numberof discrete loads in an off-grid system using mixed-integer linear programming.Additional constraints are battery charge and discharge limitations and minimumuptime and downtime for each unit. For a certain solar power profile the modeloutputs optimal unit size as well as the optimal scheduling for both units andbattery charge and discharge (if applicable). The impact of different solarpower profiles and minimum up and down time constraints on the optimal unit andbattery sizes are studied. The battery size required to achieve full solarenergy utilization decreases with the number of units and with increasedflexibility of the units (shorter on and off-time). A novel formulation isintroduced to model quasi-dynamic units that gradually start and stop and thequasi-dynamic units increase solar energy utilization. The model can also beapplied to search for the optimal number of units for a given cost function.
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