Feasibility analysis of autonomous hybrid solar-wind system for household consumption: a case study

Abstract

The constant increase of electricity prices from the power grid, rising fossil fuel prices and environmental motives make people look for opportunities to supply their homes with renewable energy independently from the grid. The easy technical feasibility of the projects and the climatic features of Bulgaria determine the solar and wind energy as the most suitable for the households. The variability of solar and wind energy predetermines their shared use in hybrid systems. Feasibility analysis of autonomous hybrid solar-wind system for household consumption was made in the article. The calculations were made for a residential building located in the village of Okop, Yambol District, Bulgaria. It has been verified if the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of the domestic solar-wind hybrid system is in parity with the final cost of the grid electricity. Different variants of system configurations and different ways of financing were considered. The results show that for the considered place, the prices of electricity produced by autonomous hybrid systems are higher than the prices of electricity for household customers connected to the power grid. The use of standalone hybrid systems is only justified when there is no power supply from the grid. Lower average prices than those of the power grid are obtained only when building a photovoltaic plant connected to the grid.