Technical Paper

Integrating Energy Systems Thinking into Sustainable Design Education through Residential PV-Battery Energy Management Simulations

Sung-Ying Tsai 1, Jui-Hung Cheng 1 * , Jang-I Lee 1
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1 Department of Mold and Die Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 80778, Taiwan* Corresponding Author
Innovation on Design and Culture, 5(2), June 2026, 1-9, https://doi.org/10.35745/idc2026v05.02.0001
Submitted: 14 November 2025, Published: 30 June 2026
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ABSTRACT

The integration of renewable energy literacy into sustainable design education is increasingly important as design disciplines evolve toward system-level thinking. This paper introduces a structured framework for embedding residential photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) simulations into design curricula, not as a teaching case but as a reproducible methodological platform to cultivate energy systems thinking. A one-day hourly simulation of a residential PV–BESS system under a time-of-use (TOU) tariff was developed to demonstrate how different energy management strategies influence cost, self-consumption, and peak load performance. Three control strategies were defined: direct PV supply (A), cost minimization (B), and self-consumption maximization (C). Quantitative results show that Strategy C yields the lowest cost (49.08 TWD), highest self-consumption (77.19 %), and lowest grid peak demand (2.5 kW), demonstrating the pedagogical value of simulation-based reasoning in sustainable design. Beyond its technical results, the study demonstrates how simulation can serve as a conceptual scaffold that strengthens energy literacy, quantitative interpretation, and systems thinking in design education.
Keywords: Sustainable design education, Energy systems thinking, Photovoltaic–Battery integration, Simulation-Based learning, Interdisciplinary design

CITATION (APA)

Tsai, S.-Y., Cheng, J.-H., & Lee, J.-I. (2026). Integrating Energy Systems Thinking into Sustainable Design Education through Residential PV-Battery Energy Management Simulations. Innovation on Design and Culture, 5(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.35745/idc2026v05.02.0001

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