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An optimal switching approach toward cost‐effective control of a stand‐alone photovoltaic panel system under stochastic environment
Author(s) -
Yoshioka Hidekazu,
Li Zhi,
Yano Akira
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
applied stochastic models in business and industry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.413
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1526-4025
pISSN - 1524-1904
DOI - 10.1002/asmb.2485
Subject(s) - photovoltaic system , discretization , stochastic differential equation , optimal control , mathematical optimization , stochastic control , stochastic optimization , computer science , control theory (sociology) , mathematics , control (management) , engineering , mathematical analysis , artificial intelligence , electrical engineering
The operation of a stand‐alone photovoltaic (PV) system ultimately aims for the optimization of its energy storage. We present a mathematical model for cost‐effective control of a stand‐alone system based on a PV panel equipped with an angle adjustment device. The model is based on viscosity solutions to partial differential equations, which serve as a new and mathematically rigorous tool for modeling, analyzing, and controlling PV systems. We formulate a stochastic optimal switching problem of the panel angle, which is here a binary variable to be dynamically controlled under stochastic weather condition. The stochasticity comes from cloud cover dynamics, which is modeled with a nonlinear stochastic differential equation. In finding the optimal control policy of the panel angle, switching the angle is subject to impulsive cost and reduces to solving a system of Hamilton‐Jacobi‐Bellman quasi‐variational inequalities (HJBQVIs). We show that the stochastic differential equation is well posed and that the HJBQVIs admit a unique viscosity solution. In addition, a finite‐difference scheme is proposed for the numerical discretization of HJBQVIs. A demonstrative computational example of the HJBQVIs, with emphasis on a stand‐alone experimental system, is finally presented with practical implications for its cost‐effective operation.