Tri-objective techno-economic sizing optimization of Off-grid and On-grid renewable energy systems using Electric system Cascade Extended analysis and system Advisor Model

Abstract

Renewable energy systems have become more attractive with the increase in energy demand due to demographic growth, industrial development, and conventional sources' cost and their impact on the environment. Finding the most suitable solution to obtain the optimum design of renewable energy systems by considering techno-economic performance is a significant challenge to ensure their efficiency at the lowest cost of energy produced. This paper has developed our Electric System Cascade Extended Analysis with new merits and functionalities to be able to determine the optimum capacities and sizes for different power generation and storage facilities of renewable energy systems in both on-grid and off-grid. The Loss of Power Supply Probability as a system reliability criterion, the Life Cycle Cost and the Levelized Cost of Energy as economic indicators, are implemented together as tri-objective optimization functions into the ESCEA to optimize the sizing results techno-economically. The sizing procedure takes as inputs hourly meteorological data, load profile, and the technical and economic data for the generation and storage units. The algorithm has been demonstrated with a case study on a site located in Oujda city in Morocco, with different electrical energy demands. Validation of the developed methodology is performed by comparing the obtained results with those from the System Advisor Model software. The results from the Electric System Cascade Extended Analysis shows that it successfully identified the optimal configuration with a difference with System Advisor Model of 1.1% in sizing results of CSP plants, 1% for PV systems, 0.9% for wind turbines systems, and a maximum difference of 1.5% in annual produced energy. The economic analysis of the ESCEA sizing results shows that it achieved viable levels cost of energy for all studied on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems and provided a comprehensive evaluation that help to choose the suitable RES for any site worldwide.