Abstract
Energy supply in remote areas (mainly in developing countries such as Colombia) has become a challenge. Hybrid microgrids are local and reliable sources of energy for these areas where access to the power grid is generally limited or unavailable. These systems generally include a diesel generator, solar modules, wind turbines, and storage devices such as batteries. Battery life estimation is an essential factor in the optimization of a hybrid microgrid since it determines the system’s final costs, including future battery replacements. This article presents a comparison of different technologies and battery models in a hybrid microgrid. The optimization is achieved using the iHOGA software, based on data from a real microgrid in Colombia. The simulation results allowed the comparison of prediction models for lifespan calculation for both lead–acid and lithium batteries in a hybrid microgrid, showing that the most accurate models are more realistic in predicting battery life by closely estimating real lifespans that are shorter, unlike other simplified methods that obtain much longer and unrealistic lifetimes.
Highlights
Global warming and the increase of greenhouse gases caused by fossil-fuel-based energy generation have resulted in worldwide concern about future energy supply [1]
The models used for lithium batteries analyze capacity and power losses, impedance increase, and the effects caused by temperature [26]
The different lead–acid and lithium battery models considered in this study are described below
Summary
Global warming and the increase of greenhouse gases caused by fossil-fuel-based energy generation have resulted in worldwide concern about future energy supply [1]. These inconveniences have become an opportunity for the use of renewable energy such as solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and biomass, among others. One drawback of renewable sources is their unpredictable nature and intermittency. To overcome this drawback, an attractive solution is to combine two or more energy sources in a hybrid system and include energy storage [3]. Photovoltaic power generation can be used during the day and wind power generation (which usually generates more energy) can be used at night, so the two sources of energy complement each other [4,5]
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