Optimal scheduling of hybrid energy resources for a smart home

The present environmental and economic conditions call for the increased use of hybrid energy resources and, concurrently, recent developments in combined heat and power (CHP) systems enable their use at a domestic level. In this work, the optimal scheduling of electric and gas energy resources is achieved for a smart home (SH) which is equipped with a fuel cell-based micro-CHP system. The SH energy system has thermal and electrical loops that contain an auxiliary boiler, a battery energy storage system, and an electrical vehicle besides other typical loads. The optimal operational cost of the SH is achieved using the real coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) under various scenarios of utility tariff and availability of hybrid energy resources. The results compare different scenarios and point-out the conditions for economic operation of micro-CHP and hybrid energy systems for an SH.