Energetic, environmental and economic aspects of a hybrid renewable energy system: a case study

Assessment of economic viability for PV/wind/diesel hybrid energy system in southern Peninsular Malaysia

This paper presents design of a stand-alone hybrid photovoltaic (PV) energy system according to the daily electrical load demand of remote healthcare centre located in Madhya Pradesh, India. It employs an optimal design and sizing of hybrid PV energy system (PV generator, battery, inverter and diesel generator) according to load demand. An economic analysis has been presented for selection of an optimum hybrid PV energy system using a hybrid optimisation model for electric renewable (HOMER) software. Paper also presents comparison of environmental aspects of hybrid PV energy system with conventional system. The initial costs of PV–diesel–battery and diesel–battery systems are $2,418 and $879, respectively. Net present cost of PV system is $13,523 and diesel system is $20,515. Results show that hybrid PV–diesel–battery energy system is more economical and environmentally friendly energy system for remote healthcare centre. Hence, it can be concluded that the renewable energy systems is a better option for healthcare centre in remote areas. Abbreviation: PV: Photovoltaic; HOMER: Hybrid optimization model for electric renewable; IEA: International energy agency; RES: Renewable energy system; HES: Hybrid energy systems; BTS: Base transceiver station; NPC: Net present cost; COE: Cost of energy; OC: Operating cost; LCC: Life cycle cost; ALCC: Annualized life cycle cost; GHG: Greenhouse gases; DG: Diesel generator; NOCT: Nominal operating cell temperature; SOC: State of charge; CC: Capital cost; RC: Replacement cost; OM: Operation & management cost; BOS: Balance of system; CGE: Cost of generated electricity; DOD: Depth of discharge

This paper presents optimization of hybrid energy system to supply electrical load of a residential house located at Jahazpur, Bhilwara in East-South region of Rajasthan, India. The electrical load of the house is calculated by energy consumption of various electrical appliances used and supplied by hybrid energy system includes Solar Photo Voltaic (PV), Small Wind Turbine (WT), Battery, and Diesel Generator system. The modeling and optimization of hybrid energy system done using HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) developed by NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory). HOMER gives the optimum configuration of hybrid energy system for minimizing the Net Present Cost (NPC) of the system. Optimized system configuration further analysed by using RETScreen software tools developed by ministry of natural resources, Canada. The various analysis done in RETScreen includes Net Present Value (NPV) analysis, payback period analysis, internal rate of return (IRR) analysis, and effect of tax and subsidies.

This paper discusses the possibility of replacing or supplementing Masirah Island’s current diesel generation system with a hybrid energy system consisting of solar photovoltaics (PV), a wind turbine and a natural gas generator to meet the island’s growing electricity demand. Hybrid Optimisation Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) modelling software uses input data, including costs, resource data, technology components, and load data, to simulate a hybrid system. The list of options, ordered according to the system’s net present cost (NPC), is generated by the software. The results of the simulation identified the optimal option, which would be a combination of the wind turbine, natural gas, and diesel generators. This option gave the lowest NPC of 129 million $ and a cost of energy (COE) of 0.0724 $/kWh. This COE of the optimal hybrid energy system was very low compared to the COE of the current diesel system (0.302 $/kWh). It also resulted in a lower pollutant emission compared to the current diesel power system. Implementing a hybrid renewable energy system would ensure a low COE and less pollution for the island.

Assessment of decentralized hybrid PV solar-diesel power system for applications in Northern part of Nigeria

The hybrid energy resources are the promising technology for future energy sources. In this work, solar photovoltaic, wind energy, diesel generator and batteries are combined to form hybrid energy resources. The Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) computational tool is used to analyze the hybrid energy sources, considering the residential building electrical utility as a load. The result revealed that 5 kW photovoltaic system could generate 11,823 kWh/year and 3 kW wind turbine 637 kWh/year for the Coimbatore region (11.018° N 76.9° E) of Tamilnadu, India. Total energy consumption of the Residential building is 13,979 kWhr/year predicted by HOMER. During a summer day, the proposed hybrid energy system produced the required power to satisfy the demand. During windy days, the wind turbine is operated to supply the required power for the utilization of the required energy. The generator generated 3771kWh/year power for Coimbatore city. As it is clear, the most elevated and least degree of solar radiation with 225 kWh/m2/day and 150 kWh/m2/day happened in April and July, respectively. The DC generator have produced the 3771kWh/year on observation it is found that the net present cost of the system obtained during the tenth year from the system installed. The hybrid energy system saves the carbon di oxide around 3.65 kg/year. The renewable energy fraction of the system is found to be 0.768.KeywordsHybrid energyPhotovoltaicWind energyHomerCO2 reduction

Water electrolysis can produce hydrogen by using a photovoltaic array as an electrical source to power the electrolyzer. Combining multiple energy sources has the potential to increase hydrogen production while also meeting other electrical needs. As Oman is planning to develop green hydrogen production, this study is proposed to help the private and governmental sectors to invest in the green hydrogen industry. In this study, the unique geographical location of Salalah and the meteorological data collected were utilized in the hybrid energy arrangement to generate electricity and produce a significant amount of hydrogen in Salalah using HOMER (Hybrid optimization model for electric renewables). The findings showed that the wind turbine (WT), photovoltaic (PV), fuel cell (FC), and hydrogen tank (HT) hybrid energy system is economically viable when compared to its counterparts in other systems and was chosen to meet Salalah in Oman’s electrical and hydrogen production needs. The PV-WT-FC-HT hybrid energy system is clearly the best option for the proposed hydrogen project in Salalah because it has the lowest Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH), 1.15 ($/kg), and Cost of Energy (COE), 19.0 ($/kWh).

Stand-alone generators are mostly used to deliver power to consumers in isolated remote locations or rural communities, which usually increase the cost of energy generation. Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are experiencing a world-wide rapid take-up due to their rapidly reducing cost and climate-friendly attributes. This study aims to develop a PV-Diesel hybrid power system for the remote township of Cue (27.4210S, 117.8960E), to investigate the techno-economic possibilities of integrating solar PV within the existing diesel network. Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) has been used to evaluate the performance of the hybrid power system based on the performance metrics: net present cost (NPC), cost of energy (COE), renewable fraction (RF) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Simulation, optimization and sensitivity analysis of the models has been performed and an optimum model selection has been made, based on techno-economic and environmental performance. From the simulation analysis, it is clearly observed that Cue, as well as other mid-west locations within Western Australia, has enormous potential for substantially increasing the use of solar PV in parallel with the existing stand-alone generators, thereby reducing the use of diesel fuel, generator operating hours, resulting in reduced energy costs and GHG emissions.

This paper investigates the optimisation of a Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES) used for powering a covid-19 vaccine cold storage facility in rural areas of South Africa. The proposed system is made up of Photovoltaic (PV) panels, a Wind Turbine (WT), a Battery Storage Bank (BSB), and an AC/DC bi-directional converter. The proposed system is compared to the baseline case of a Diesel Generator (DG)/BSB designed for the same purpose. The HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables) software is utilised to simulate the proposed hybrid PV/WT/BS system with a view of finding the most appropriate configuration that will run at optimal cost, performance and reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed to analyse the effect of varying the WT hub height on the overall performance of the proposed system. The results show that in comparison to the DG/BSB system the proposed hybrid PV/WT/BS system can significantly reduce the Cost of Energy (COE), GHG emissions, total Net Present Cost (NPC), and the system capacity shortage by as much as 76.2, 100%, 71.5%, and 100% respectively. Furthermore, the sensitivity results show that the WT hub height has a significant effect on the overall costs of the proposed system.

The new and improved Smart Grid (SG) is replacing conventional electrical grid due to: (a) Integration of renewable energy sources, (b) Demand response programs, (c) energy management system, and (d) supply versus demand management. The electrical demand is typically supplied by conventional fossil fuel generation that induces high cost and increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Therefore, to overcome abovementioned issues, there is a pressing need to supply the consumer demand using hybrid energy system with low cost and reduced CO2 emissions. The analytical assessment of optimal hybrid power generation system at University campus is performed during load shedding hours or unavailability of power supply from the conventional power system. Further, this paper analyzes four various configurations of the power system that includes: (a) Diesel based, (b) Photo Voltaic (PV) based, (c) Wind based, and (d) Wind and PV based power generation system. Cost of Energy (COE) and Net Present Cost (NPC) plays a vital role in opting for power generation system. Therefore, this research will analyze COE and NPC for the abovementioned configurations using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) software. A configuration with reduced COE and NPC will be proposed for University campus.

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

Selection of the best solar photovoltaic (PV) for Oman

Hybrid energy systems are renewable energy system combined in a complementary fashion to ensure dependable power supply at competitive cost. Diesel generators (DGs) are also added here as a back-up source of supply. For remote areas far from a transmission grid, these systems can provide a reliable and cost-effective supply. Addition of DG could instigate environmental pollution in such remote unpolluted areas. In the present work, optimal sizing of hybrid energy system has been attempted for a remote village cluster of Uttarakhand (India) to make available desired power supply at minimum environmental effluence. Hybrid Optimization Model for Electrical Renewable (HOMER) software from National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA has been employed to attain the objective. The software offered several feasible systems, ranked on the basis of net present cost (NPC). All such systems are further analysed for emissions they have made in the environment. Hence, the optimal system fulfilling the criteria of minimal environmental degradation with sufficiently minimum NPC has been searched for. In the present work, the most appropriate system offered on the basis of NPC is the one which has five wind turbines (10 kW each), one DG (65 kW) and 25 batteries (6 V, 6.94 kW h each). The NPC of the system is $1,252,018, whereas its initial capital cost and levelised cost of energy (COE) are $94,233 and $0.292/kW h, respectively. After further analysis of all the feasible systems on the basis of environmental effluence, the most feasible system explored is the one which has minimal emissions of various pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide. The system has been obtained on a compromised NPC of $1,270,921 with a capital cost of $148,133 and COE of $0.296/kW h. Components of the system include five wind turbines (10 kW), a 9 kW PV panel and a 65 kW DG along with 30 batteries (6 V, 6.94 kW h each). The system so obtained would prove to be a feasible, optimally sized and sustainable power supply alternative for remote unelectrified hilly rural area.

Performance analysis of an off-grid wind-PV (photovoltaic)-diesel-battery hybrid energy system feasible for remote areas

Hybrid energy systems with renewable generation are built in many remote areas where the renewable resources are abundant and the environment is clean. We present a case study of the Catalina Island in California for which a system with photovoltaic (PV) arrays, wind turbines, and battery storage is designed based on empirical weather and load data. To determine the system size, we formulate an optimization problem that minimizes the total construction and operation cost subject to maximum tolerable risk. Simulations using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) is used to determine the feasible set of the optimization problem.