Hedging Investments of Grid-Connected PV-BESS in Buildings Using Cryptocurrency Mining: A Case Study in Finland

Mehran Hajiaghapour-Moghimi; Ehsan Hajipour; Kamyar Azimi Hosseini; Mehdi Tavakkoli; Sajjad Fattaheian-Dehkordi; Mehdi Vakilian; Matti Lehtonen

doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3290909

Hedging Investments of Grid-Connected PV-BESS in Buildings Using Cryptocurrency Mining: A Case Study in Finland

Mehran Hajiaghapour-Moghimi, Ehsan Hajipour, Kamyar Azimi Hosseini, Mehdi Tavakkoli, Sajjad Fattaheian-Dehkordi, Mehdi Vakilian, Matti Lehtonen

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Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a growing global focus on solar power as a renewable energy source (RES) to supply local energy demands and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system provides a small-scale utilization of solar energy on the roofs of apartment buildings. Investment in this system and its profitability depends on several factors, including geographic conditions, electricity price, and local load profiles. However, in Finland, the maritime and continental climates and electrically heated residential buildings present unique challenges to the investment and utilization of rooftop PV systems. Common solutions to incentivize the investment of grid-connected PV in apartments are battery energy storage systems (BESSs), demand side management (DSM), and power-to-x (P2X) approaches. Nevertheless, the value of these solutions is limited in Finland due to the seasonal variation of solar PV generation and customers’ energy consumption. This paper presents a novel and practical control and hedging mechanism to encourage investments in rooftop solar PV-BESS systems by investing in cryptocurrency mining devices (CMDs) as dispatchable and flexible loads, which facilitate the use of excess renewable energy for producing cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin (BTC). This mechanism can optimally switch the output of excessive renewable energy between exporting to the main grid and mining cryptocurrency. The proposed mechanism is studied using a dataset obtained from a residential apartment building in Helsinki, Finland, and its effectiveness is demonstrated through several practical scenarios. The results of a case study employed in this work demonstrate that the proposed hedging mechanism can provide sufficient encouragement for investors to invest in a PV system, with a return on investment equal to 57.7%. This mechanism also reduces the annual cost of residential apartments by 68.1%.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	66327 - 66345
Number of pages	19
Journal	IEEE Access
Volume	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3290909
Publication status	Published - 28 Jun 2023
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

Battery energy storage system
building energy management
cryptocurrency mining
photovoltaic
renewable energy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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title = "Hedging Investments of Grid-Connected PV-BESS in Buildings Using Cryptocurrency Mining: A Case Study in Finland",

abstract = "In recent decades, there has been a growing global focus on solar power as a renewable energy source (RES) to supply local energy demands and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system provides a small-scale utilization of solar energy on the roofs of apartment buildings. Investment in this system and its profitability depends on several factors, including geographic conditions, electricity price, and local load profiles. However, in Finland, the maritime and continental climates and electrically heated residential buildings present unique challenges to the investment and utilization of rooftop PV systems. Common solutions to incentivize the investment of grid-connected PV in apartments are battery energy storage systems (BESSs), demand side management (DSM), and power-to-x (P2X) approaches. Nevertheless, the value of these solutions is limited in Finland due to the seasonal variation of solar PV generation and customers{\textquoteright} energy consumption. This paper presents a novel and practical control and hedging mechanism to encourage investments in rooftop solar PV-BESS systems by investing in cryptocurrency mining devices (CMDs) as dispatchable and flexible loads, which facilitate the use of excess renewable energy for producing cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin (BTC). This mechanism can optimally switch the output of excessive renewable energy between exporting to the main grid and mining cryptocurrency. The proposed mechanism is studied using a dataset obtained from a residential apartment building in Helsinki, Finland, and its effectiveness is demonstrated through several practical scenarios. The results of a case study employed in this work demonstrate that the proposed hedging mechanism can provide sufficient encouragement for investors to invest in a PV system, with a return on investment equal to 57.7%. This mechanism also reduces the annual cost of residential apartments by 68.1%.",

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author = "Mehran Hajiaghapour-Moghimi and Ehsan Hajipour and Hosseini, {Kamyar Azimi} and Mehdi Tavakkoli and Sajjad Fattaheian-Dehkordi and Mehdi Vakilian and Matti Lehtonen",

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AU - Hajiaghapour-Moghimi, Mehran

AU - Hajipour, Ehsan

AU - Hosseini, Kamyar Azimi

AU - Tavakkoli, Mehdi

AU - Fattaheian-Dehkordi, Sajjad

AU - Vakilian, Mehdi

AU - Lehtonen, Matti

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Author

PY - 2023/6/28

Y1 - 2023/6/28

N2 - In recent decades, there has been a growing global focus on solar power as a renewable energy source (RES) to supply local energy demands and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system provides a small-scale utilization of solar energy on the roofs of apartment buildings. Investment in this system and its profitability depends on several factors, including geographic conditions, electricity price, and local load profiles. However, in Finland, the maritime and continental climates and electrically heated residential buildings present unique challenges to the investment and utilization of rooftop PV systems. Common solutions to incentivize the investment of grid-connected PV in apartments are battery energy storage systems (BESSs), demand side management (DSM), and power-to-x (P2X) approaches. Nevertheless, the value of these solutions is limited in Finland due to the seasonal variation of solar PV generation and customers’ energy consumption. This paper presents a novel and practical control and hedging mechanism to encourage investments in rooftop solar PV-BESS systems by investing in cryptocurrency mining devices (CMDs) as dispatchable and flexible loads, which facilitate the use of excess renewable energy for producing cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin (BTC). This mechanism can optimally switch the output of excessive renewable energy between exporting to the main grid and mining cryptocurrency. The proposed mechanism is studied using a dataset obtained from a residential apartment building in Helsinki, Finland, and its effectiveness is demonstrated through several practical scenarios. The results of a case study employed in this work demonstrate that the proposed hedging mechanism can provide sufficient encouragement for investors to invest in a PV system, with a return on investment equal to 57.7%. This mechanism also reduces the annual cost of residential apartments by 68.1%.

AB - In recent decades, there has been a growing global focus on solar power as a renewable energy source (RES) to supply local energy demands and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system provides a small-scale utilization of solar energy on the roofs of apartment buildings. Investment in this system and its profitability depends on several factors, including geographic conditions, electricity price, and local load profiles. However, in Finland, the maritime and continental climates and electrically heated residential buildings present unique challenges to the investment and utilization of rooftop PV systems. Common solutions to incentivize the investment of grid-connected PV in apartments are battery energy storage systems (BESSs), demand side management (DSM), and power-to-x (P2X) approaches. Nevertheless, the value of these solutions is limited in Finland due to the seasonal variation of solar PV generation and customers’ energy consumption. This paper presents a novel and practical control and hedging mechanism to encourage investments in rooftop solar PV-BESS systems by investing in cryptocurrency mining devices (CMDs) as dispatchable and flexible loads, which facilitate the use of excess renewable energy for producing cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin (BTC). This mechanism can optimally switch the output of excessive renewable energy between exporting to the main grid and mining cryptocurrency. The proposed mechanism is studied using a dataset obtained from a residential apartment building in Helsinki, Finland, and its effectiveness is demonstrated through several practical scenarios. The results of a case study employed in this work demonstrate that the proposed hedging mechanism can provide sufficient encouragement for investors to invest in a PV system, with a return on investment equal to 57.7%. This mechanism also reduces the annual cost of residential apartments by 68.1%.

KW - Battery energy storage system

KW - building energy management

KW - cryptocurrency mining

KW - photovoltaic

KW - renewable energy

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DO - 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3290909

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SN - 2169-3536

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SP - 66327

EP - 66345

JO - IEEE Access

JF - IEEE Access

ER -

Hedging Investments of Grid-Connected PV-BESS in Buildings Using Cryptocurrency Mining: A Case Study in Finland

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Findings from Sharif University of Technology Advance Knowledge in Renewable Energy (Hedging Investments of Grid-Connected PV-BESS in Buildings Using Cryptocurrency Mining: A Case Study in Finland)

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Hedging Investments of Grid-Connected PV-BESS in Buildings Using Cryptocurrency Mining: A Case Study in Finland

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Findings from Sharif University of Technology Advance Knowledge in Renewable Energy (Hedging Investments of Grid-Connected PV-BESS in Buildings Using Cryptocurrency Mining: A Case Study in Finland)

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