Abstract
Increased concerns over global warming and air pollution has pushed governments to consider renewable energy as an alternative to meet the required energy demands of countries. Many government policies are deployed in Taiwan to promote solar and wind energy to cope with air pollution and self-dependency for energy generation. However, the residential sector contribution is not significant despite higher feed-in tariff rates set by government. This study analyzes wind and solar power availability of four different locations of southern Taiwan, based on the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system. The solar–wind hybrid system (SWHS) considered in this study consists of multi-crystalline photovoltaic (PV) modules, vertical wind turbines, inverters and batteries. Global reanalysis weather data and a climate-based electricity load profile at a 1-h resolution was used for the simulation. A general framework for multi-objective optimization using this simulation technique is proposed for solar–wind hybrid system, considering the feed-in tariff regulations, environmental regulations and installation area constraints of Taiwan. The hourly load profile is selected using a climate classification system. A decomposition-based differential evolutionary algorithm is used for finding the optimal Pareto set of two economic objectives and one environmental objective with maximum installation area and maximum PV capacity constraints. Two types of buildings are chosen for analysis at four climate locations. Analysis of Pareto sets revealed that the photovoltaic modules are economic options for a grid-connected mode at all four locations, whereas solar–wind hybrid systems are more environmentally friendly. A method of finding the fitness index for the Pareto front sets and a balanced strategy for choosing the optimal configuration is proposed. The proposed balanced strategy provides savings to users—up to 49% for urban residential buildings and up to 32% for rural residential buildings with respect to buildings without a hybrid energy system (HES)—while keeping carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions lower than 50% for the total project lifecycle time of 20 years. The case study reveals that for all four locations and two building types an HES system comprising a 15 kW photovoltaic system and a small capacity battery bank provides the optimal balance between economic and environmental objectives.
Highlights
Global warming is one of the biggest concerns among global communities [1,2]
This study proposes a general framework for multi-objective optimization of the net present cost (NPC), total power bought from the grid and total CO2 emission objectives for a project lifecycle of 20 years
We have presented a case study for multi-objective sizing optimization of a grid-connected hybrid energy system (HES) system for the southern Taiwan region
Summary
Global warming is one of the biggest concerns among global communities [1,2]. The climate action summit [3] organized by the United Nations (UN) in 2019 set a goal of achieving a 1.5 ◦ C goal by the end of the century, by reducing GHG emissions by 7.6% annually. Energies 2020, 13, 2505 decreasing the dependency on fossil fuels and promoting clean energy. Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Asia would continue to dominate the solar photovoltaic (PV) [4]. Onshore wind [5] power industries with an estimated share of more than 50% in both sectors by 2050. Taiwan has implemented several policies to promote renewable energy generation. The million solar rooftop PVs project [6,7] focuses on the gradual expansion of rooftop PV installation prior to ground installations, and the thousand wind turbine project proposes the strategy of developing onshore wind power systems before off-shore wind farms. The Bureau of Energy has announced promotional feed-in tariff (FiT) rates [8] for onshore wind power with capacity between 1 kW and
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