Energy Water Nexus for a Comfort Maltese Household Using PVs

A load shifting strategy for the heat pump load (HPL), powered by both utility and the PV, is proposed in this paper. The heat pump is an energy intensive device, and the cost of electricity from the grid can be minimized with the proposed load shifting approach by strategically shifting both the base load and the HPL towards the PV peak, so that the cost during the daytime is reduced. To achieve this purpose in the Maltese context, the heat pump was modeled in the heating mode based on the ambient temperature and the thermal energy delivered. It was observed that with the actual data of the PVs and the existing load, the thermal energy storage can be achieved with self-consumption from PVs.