Performance evaluation and optimal design of stand-alone solar PV-battery system for irrigation in isolated regions: A case study in Al Minya (Egypt)

Abstract

An optimal design of stand-alone solar PV-battery system (BS) for irrigation in an isolated region in Al Minya (Egypt) as a case study has been conducted in this research. The PV-battery system (PV/BS) was used to supply power to brackish water pumping (BWP) and reverse osmosis desalination (RO) unit. Two different metrics; the net present cost (NPC) and energy cost (EC) are used to identify the optimal size. The optimization process is performed using a HOMER package. Results confirmed that PV system (75 kW), BS (32 units Trojan L16P), and converter (28 KW) are the optimum size. The NPC and EC costs are $109,856 and $0.059 respectively. The obtained cost of energy is lower compared to the previously reported ones, because of the proper selection of the PV size and type and the proper selection of the location. These optimized results are better than those of standalone diesel generator (DG) and the utility grid (UG) extension. The amount of CO2 emissions is reduced by 86,511 kg/year for the PV/BS-compared to the DG system. On the other hand, the EC for standalone DG system is 0.195 $/kWh that is 69.74% higher than that of PV/BS system.