Selection of optimal location and design of a stand-alone photovoltaic scheme using a modified hybrid methodology

Abstract

Since rural systems often have no connections to backup electrical supplies, determining the optimal location and the optimal size of a stand-alone system is an important challenge. In this paper an efficient framework based on a hybrid heuristic approach is proposed to find the appropriate capacity and location for stand-alone, remote photovoltaic/battery schemes. The framework evaluates the total area of photovoltaic panels and the size of the storage scheme using a modified hybrid methodology. To determine ideal values of the decision variables, a geographic information system module is used to find the appropriate location according to various sets of conditions such as social, technical, economic, and environmental. In order to determine the appropriate capacity, an improved hybrid methodology based on harmony search and simulated annealing is utilized along with technical and economic conditions to satisfy continuously the load while minimizing the total life cycle cost and maximizing the reliability of the scheme. An actual case study is considered for South Khorasan, Iran using the framework. In order to investigate how impactful the proposed methodology is, the outcomes of the aforementioned method and other heuristic methods are compared. For improved harmony search, simulated annealing, and geographic information systems, the proposed framework shows promising results for a stand-alone photovoltaic scheme taking into account the quality of delivered power and cost in islands and areas that are hard to access.