A review on battery energy storage systems: Applications, developments, and research trends of hybrid installations in the end-user sector

The sharp and continuous deployment of intermittent Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and especially of Photovoltaics (PVs) poses serious challenges on modern power systems. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are seen as a promising technology to tackle the arising technical bottlenecks, gathering significant attention in recent years. Particularly, they are gaining increasing interest in the context of hybrid PV-BESS installations, enabling various benefits for both residential and non-residential end -users. The aim of this work is to provide a detailed overview of BESS-related aspects, focusing on the applications, developments, and research trends of hybrid installations in the end -user sector. To this extent, an explicit overview of Battery Energy Storage is provided, especially as a Distributed Energy Resource, while a detailed description of hybrid PV-BESS installations, their available configurations, and their benefits is presented. Additionally, the beneficial effect of BESS on controllable RES integration and the importance of Energy Flexibility through Demand Side Management (DSM) is also extensively discussed, along with the BESS operation within the DSM framework. BESS are considered a key technology for the further exploitation of DSM due to their specific characteristics. Moreover, the main dimensions of BESS deployment are identified as topics receiving substantial interest in the current literature. Notably, a noteworthy amount of research papers is examined, further categorised into four main topics, namely Techno-economic Analysis, Operational Control, System Sizing, and Demand Response, consisting of diverse research subjects. Finally, a detailed description of each paper is provided in the scope of thoroughly examining the most important BESS-related perspectives in the existing literature, identifying any possible research gaps, and providing remarks for future directions.