Research on off-the-grid energy storage system

Suzhou High School of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu, China

^* Corresponding author: nitianlun_helen@163.com

Abstract

To enable people in remote areas to meet their energy needs during cloudy days or at night, our team decided to tailor an off-the-grid energy storage system for them. To allow this energy storage system to meet the energy usage of a 1,600-square-foot family, we comprehensively consider the factors about continuous power rating, instantaneous power rating, usable capacity, round-trip efficiency, lifetime of battery, and price of batteries to maximize efficiency and lower costs. In the modeling process, the mathematical method we use is the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Verify whether the matrix passes the consistency test by calculating the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the matrix, and get a score for each battery. Among the five batteries, we found that the battery Deka Solar 8GCC2 6V 198 can best meet our needs. Then, to perfect the model, we added a new consideration, which is personal preference, including all the subjective factors that would affect people’s choice. After incorporating this new consideration into our original model, the rankings of two of the five batteries have changed. However, despite these slight swifts, battery Deka Solar 8GCC2 6V 198 is still our best choice. Nowadays, researchers have discovered some new types of batteries to store energy, such as cement batteries, and this new type of battery has some unique advantages. We compare currently available batteries with the cement batteries, and discover that both batteries have their pros and cons. We believe that with the development of technology, cement batteries will have a very broad prospect and can even surpass currently available batteries.