Table 7 Default initial values of parameters

Number of users

300

According to Statistics Netherlands Waalre community had 2460 households in 2012 [54]. For faster computations we start with a more limited number.

Average yearly demand

4100 kWh

Statistics Netherlands gives the number for Waalre in 2011 [54]. The Dutch average for that year equals 3500 kWh.

Users with PV system

20 %

Natuur & milieu predicts a number of 130.000 PV systems in Dutch households [55]. Divided by 7.512.824 households this results in 2 %. Houses in Waalre are relatively large and the inhabitants are wealthier than average. Because of these characteristics and the expected future growth in PV we assume a 20 % coverage of PV systems.

Average PV capacity

3000 Wp (=3 kWp)

Different values appear in texts (2400 Wp [56], 3500 Wp [57]). We use a slightly lower value to take into account the older systems that are still in use.

PV systems with storage

25 %

We assume only households with PV systems might decide to install a residential storage system. Therefore, the number of storage systems is given as percentage of households that already have a PV system installed. Using the default values for the number of users and the users with PV systems gives a default value of 15 storage systems within the community.

Average storage capacity

4 kWh

For the US Rastler calculated a desirable value of 2 - 5 kW for 2 to 4 h [58]. Mulder et al calculated optimum storage capacity for grid connected houses in Belgium and they reached values of 0.3 to 3 kWh [16]. In the German situation 4.5 kWh would provide enough power during the night [59]. RWE states that 4 kWh will be sufficient for an average 4 person household [60]. They offer also much larger storage systems, ranging from 4.6 to 41 kWh [61]. E3/DC sells storage systems with a usable range of 4.05 to 8.1 kWh net [18].

Because of the available systems we model a default storage capacity of 4 kWh.

Storage level at start

0 %

Start the run (thus the day) with an empty storage system.