Holistic planning and operational optimization of photovoltaic-driven district cooling systems with hybrid energy storage
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Huang, Zhifeng
Zhang, Zequn
Markides, Christos N
Islam, Md Raisul
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
District cooling system (DCS) integrated with large-scale photovoltaic (PV) is essential for sustainable urban energy transitions. However, most existing planning studies rely on representative-day simplifications, which lead to biased system design and economic assessment. This study develops a holistic planning and operational optimization framework for a fully PV-driven DCS integrating hybrid energy storage technologies, including batteries, ice storage, and hydrogen. Full-year hourly operations are explicitly resolved to examine the influence of planning horizons on system configuration and techno-economic performance. Renewable-driven systems are systematically compared with conventional grid-driven DCSs in terms of configuration, operation, and techno-economic performance. Results show that representative-day planning underestimates the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) by 6.8% for grid-driven systems and by up to 35% for renewable systems, due to their inability to capture prolonged renewable shortages and inter-seasonal storage dynamics. Although renewable-based DCS requires about 5 times higher capital investment ($13 million versus $2.3 million), it can achieve a 3.5% lower LCOE under the base scenario (55 cents/kWhc versus 57 cents/kWhc). Ice storage remains the dominant storage option in both systems because of its low capital cost, serving primarily as nocturnal load shifting in grid-driven systems and diurnal solar buffering in PV-based systems. Hydrogen storage, despite its high cost and low round-trip efficiency, plays a critical role for maintaining supply security during consecutive multi-day solar deficits. Sensitivity analyses reveal strong substitution effects among storage technologies, while PV module cost remains the most influential parameter, increasing LCOE by up to 17% under a high-cost scenario.
Date Issued
2026-08-01
Date Acceptance
2026-05-06
Citation
Energy Conversion and Management, 2026, 361
ISSN
0196-8904
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Journal / Book Title
Energy Conversion and Management
Volume
361
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. This is the author’s accepted manuscript made available under a CC-BY licence in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy)
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
121607
Date Publish Online
2026-05-13