Journal article : Review
Overview of DC distribution system in low-carbon building–part I: configuration, architectures and applications
- Abstract:
- The building sector consumes approximately 32% of global energy and generates 34% of carbon dioxide emissions. Consequently, advancing energy conservation and emission reduction within this sector plays a critical role in mitigating the global climate crisis. Integrating photovoltaic (PV) generation, combined electrical and thermal energy storage systems, direct current (DC) distribution, and flexible load management technologies within buildings, synergistically optimized across the power source, energy conversion, and demand sides, creates pathways for decarbonizing the building sector. This review begins by elucidating the system's key configuration: building PV, energy storage systems (ESS), DC distribution systems and flexible loads, elaborating on their specific configurations and applications within the building environment. Subsequently, the paper reviews and analyzes low-voltage direct current (LVDC) voltage levels from the perspectives of existing standards and DC load demands. Focusing on DC distribution network topologies, this paper introduces unipolar and bipolar DC systems along with relevant studies, and reviews typical network configurations applicable to single buildings and building clusters. Following this, twelve global application case studies are presented and discussed, along with their key operational parameters. Finally, this paper discusses directions for technical standardization and future development trends.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 1.6MB, Terms of use)
-
- Publisher copy:
- 10.1109/tpel.2026.3655390
Authors
+ National Natural Science Foundation of China
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/01h0zpd94
- Grant:
- 52377194
+ AI for Science Program, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization
More from this funder
- Grant:
- 2025-GZL-RGZNBTBX-02026
- Publisher:
- IEEE
- Journal:
- IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics More from this journal
- Volume:
- 41
- Issue:
- 6
- Pages:
- 10343-10364
- Publication date:
- 2026-01-19
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-01-09
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
1941-0107
- ISSN:
-
0885-8993
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Subtype:
-
Review
- Pubs id:
-
2374474
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2374474
- Source identifiers:
-
W7125125802
- Deposit date:
-
2026-03-25
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- IEEE
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © 2026 IEEE. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining, and training of artificial intelligence and similar technologies
- Notes:
- The author accepted manuscript (AAM) of this paper has been made available under the University of Oxford's Open Access Publications Policy, and a CC BY public copyright licence has been applied.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record