Author(s)

Y. Nakagawa, J. Ochiai & M. Taniguchi

Abstract

In recent years, tests and investigations aimed at the realization of a sustainable city by smart grids using renewable energy have been ongoing worldwide. However, those field tests do not take into consideration the fact that the city characteristics include the manner of using electric vehicles. This important smart grid component strongly influences city characteristics. In fact, the degree of that effect expected for cities of each kind has not been reported. Therefore, this study analyzes the difference of effects of local electricity production for local consumption using photovoltaic resources, with introduction of smart grids in Japanese cities. The analyses specifically address electric power supply and demand for houses, which account for most building areas in cities. The daily electricity supply and demand circumstances were estimated hourly based on traffic data and solar radiation data nationwide. Moreover, based on the calculated results, we created a multiple regression model using data of city characteristics such as the car ownership rate and housing complexes, and applied it in all cities of the Tokyo metropolitan area. We then analyzed the relation between the effect of local electricity production for local consumption and the city characteristics. Results of those analyses demonstrate that cities with a higher effect of the local electricity production for local consumption have characteristics such as trends in nuclear families, a high ratio of a car ownership, and newly built detached homes. Furthermore, the effect is greater in suburban areas than in urban areas of metropolitan Tokyo. Although the distance from the urban area extends far into the suburban area, this effect decreases with distance. Keywords: smart grid, local electricity production for local consumption, city character, electric vehicle, multiple regression model.

Keywords

Keywords: smart grid, local electricity production for local consumption, city character, electric vehicle, multiple regression model.