International Journal of Applied Power Engineering (IJAPE)
Vol 15, No 3: September 2026

Hybrid AC/DC and conventional AC house efficiency for net zero energy homes

Taufik Taufik (Cal Poly State University)
Heru Nurwarsito (Universitas Brawijaya)
Tyler Bury (Cal Poly State University)
Rahman Azis Prasojo (Cal Poly State University)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Sep 2026

Abstract

The transition toward net-zero energy homes (NZEH) requires residential electrical systems that can efficiently integrate renewable generation, battery storage, and both AC and direct current (DC) loads. Although DC and hybrid AC/DC residential systems have been widely studied, limited work directly compares hybrid AC/DC and conventional AC house architectures under different grid standards, power levels, and AC/DC load ratios while considering DC bus losses. This study presents a MATLAB/Simulink-based steady-state efficiency comparison between hybrid AC/DC and conventional AC residential electrical systems. Twelve models were developed, consisting of six hybrid AC/DC and six conventional AC configurations under 120 V/60 Hz and 230 V/50 Hz standards. The models include PV generation, battery storage, inverter, AC/DC converter, multiple-input single-output (MISO) converter, and line-resistance effects. Results show that hybrid AC/DC houses achieve 4-11% higher efficiency than conventional AC houses when DC load demand remains below approximately 1.5-2.0 kW, mainly due to reduced conversion stages. At higher DC load levels, the efficiency advantage decreases because of copper losses in the 48 V DC bus. Increasing the DC bus voltage to 60 V reduces current-related losses and extends the efficient operating range. These findings indicate that hybrid AC/DC distribution is most suitable for residential applications with low-to-moderate DC demand, such as lighting, electronics, communication devices, and other DC-compatible appliances. The main contribution of this study is identifying the operating range, efficiency limit, and practical design implications of hybrid AC/DC residential distribution for future NZEH applications.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

IJAPE

Publisher

Subject

Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Description

International Journal of Applied Power Engineering (IJAPE) focuses on the applied works in the areas of power generation, transmission and distribution, sustainable energy, applications of power control in large power systems, etc. The main objective of IJAPE is to bring out the latest practices in ...