Simultaneous design and operation optimization of renewable combined cooling heating and power systems

Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) systems are promising solutions for conserving energy and reducing emissions. This article proposes a new mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for simultaneous design and operation optimization of a renewable CCHP system, considering component nonlinear operating characteristics and performance degradation with time. A bi-objective MILP problem is solved to achieve a trade-off between total annual cost (TAC) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe). A case study of a commercial region is employed to demonstrate our proposed methodology. The results shows, in comparison with conventional cost minimization, our solution features a tardy increase of 12.8% in TAC and a sharp reduction of 75.5% in GHGe. Moreover, we find that ignoring performance degradation leads to an over-estimation of 2.3–13.7% in system economic performance. The proposed methodology provides an effective and flexible framework for optimal design and operational analysis of renewable CCHP systems.