Design of Wind and PV-Solar Hybrid System for Tem Equipment in Geophysical Exploration for Geothermal Energy

Abstract

The research was tailored to optimize the design of a hybrid system that is powered by wind and solar energy in sustaining the power requirements of the Transient Electromagnetic Method (TEM) instrumentation. The issue addressed by the research was the unsustainability aspect of the batteries during TEM data collection. Therefore, the research tried to come up with an alternative that involved making power from wind and solar resources to power the TEM equipment. The research design began by doing a quantification analysis of both wind and solar resources in the geothermal area. In addition, a terrain and security analysis was done. Lastly, a hybrid system was designed considering its component specification that was governed by the wind and solar characteristics of the geothermal area under study. The sole aim was to solve issues faced with one form of green energy, geothermal energy, with other forms of green energy, wind and solar energy. The end result was the design of a revised final hybrid system that was able to sustain the power requirements of the TEM equipment during data collection in a geophysical survey with the available natural wind and solar resources in the Olkaria Geothermal field. From the analysis, it was evident that design of the hybrid system will primarily depend on the availability of the wind and solar resources in the area under study and the power requirements of the application being powered by the hybrid system.