Solar Hybrid Power System Research Articles

Modeling of Hybrid-Renewable Energy Sources of Linear Load System

A representation of mixture power system based on a photovoltaic, airstream system, a battery bank, and a DC motor-pump is established in this work. The major purpose is to get together the power load requirements through successful employment of the batteries. In this employment, recognition and reproduction of a hybrid solar, wind and storage battery power system is offered. This procedure likewise incorporates a battery stockpiling DC source convert to air conditioning supply to stack through an inverter. The proposed control approach has been embedded by recreation under the equivalent metrological conditions, demonstrating the adequacy of the proposed half and half framework. Reenactment results gotten by MATLAB/SIMULINK programming are displayed.

Restoration of stable voltage in an isolated hybrid solar power system with combined JAYA-DE algorithm

This work discusses the implementation of JAYA-DE algorithm with Static Var Compensator for optimum voltage control through Reactive Power compensation inside solar based hybrid power system.The stability aspect of isolated solar based hybrid power system is enhanced through compensation of the reactive power by optimized SVC and are further analyzed with different stability criterion. The dynamic performance of the new hybrid technique under intermittent wind power input and variable load show superiority over the conventional control methods.

Hybrid Renewable Energy Power System Model Based on Electrification Requirements of One Fathom Bank Malaysia

Renewable energy resources are becoming inexorably in the field of generating electrical power due to the fast development of technology, given to its advantages over non-renewable energy resources. Though the source is available in enormous amount, energy produced from single renewable energy resources such as tidal current may fluctuate with the time and the hour of the day or month, depending on the tides. Thus, by having a hybrid power system consisting two or more renewable energy resources coming into play at the same time would be more reliable to support the targeted area. However, the availability of renewable energies depends on the climate change, therefore having a storage battery or backup power is often essential. In this case, the main purpose of this research is to develop an off-grid hybrid tidal current and solar power system along with backup power to support One Fathom Bank Lighthouse in Malaysia with the intention to reduce the dependency on diesel generators. Having the ability to evaluate economic and technical feasibility of power system, HOMER software is used to run simulation and analyze the best combination of components to form a hybrid power system for the lighthouse. The results are based on the best components and sizing in compliance with the load demand and diesel fuel consumption to provide a reliable and cost-effective system.

Simulation and Control of MPPT Based Hybrid System with Boost Converter

A new topology of the hybrid (solar plus wind) power system with enhanced boost converter is proposed in this paper for standalone applications. The proposed hybrid power system comprises of solar panel and permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) based wind turbine followed by rectifier and enhanced boost converter with resistive load. These natural sources deliver the load independently or concurrently depending on the requirement and accessibility of sources. The efficiency of the hybrid power system is increased by maximum power point operation. The most usually used Perturb and Observe (P&O) MPPT technique extracts the maximum power at the certain point. The complete structure was modelled and simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK package with variable solar irradiation and wind speed. The outcomes obtainable demonstrate the confirmation of the projected hybrid power system.

Hybrid solar power system versus photovoltaic plant: A comparative analysis through a life cycle approach

Abstract The sun is considered to be one of the most environmentally sound sources of clean and renewable energy. Nevertheless, new hybrid solar plants - combining solar power with another source of energy - have never been compared to traditional solar technologies. Therefore, the aim of this work is to compare the potential environmental impact of a 100 kWp photovoltaic plant (PV) with a 100 kW hybrid solar-gas turbine system (SHGT) using a life cycle assessment methodology. To the best of our knowledge, this type of comparison is the first of its kind. The analysis is performed considering three different scenarios for the SHGT. Additionally, a deep sensitivity analysis is undertaken, focusing on those parameters that mostly influence the outcomes. The results highlight that, using the currently available technology, PV resulted to be the best environmental choice, with greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of 0.043 kg CO2eq/kWh. SHGT plant emissions resulted to be higher, equal to 0.236 kg CO2eq/kWh when running at nominal power 12 h/day, mainly due to the fuel contribution. However, improvements in receiver technology could make it possible to reach higher receiver outlet temperatures and consequently save fuel, reducing the overall environmental impact. Moreover, replacing the natural gas used as turbine running fuel with solar radiation leads to a reduction in GHG emissions, which become comparable to PV plant gases.

Techno-Economic Feasibility of Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic and Battery Energy Storage Power System for a Mobile Cellular Base Station in Soshanguve, South Africa

Over the years, sustainability and impact on the environment, as well as operation expenditure, have been major concerns in the deployment of mobile cellular base stations (BSs) worldwide. This is because mobile cellular BSs are known to consume a high percentage of power within the mobile cellular network. Such energy consumption contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) through the use of conventional diesel generating set (gen-set). As a result, mobile cellular operators are faced with the dilemma of minimizing the power consumption, GHG emissions, and operation cost, while improving the quality of service (QoS) of the networks. In attempting to find a solution, this study presents the feasibility and simulation of a solar photovoltaic (PV)/battery hybrid power system (HPS), as a predominant source of power for a specific mobile cellular BS site situated in the Soshanguve area of the city of Pretoria, South Africa. It also presents the technical development and shows the environmental advantage and cost benefits of using a solar PV/battery HPS to power a BS site with a 24 h daily load of 241.10 kWh/d and peak load of 20.31 kW as compared to using the HPS with a solar PV/diesel gen-set/battery. The solar resource pattern for the city of Pretoria was collected from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was modeled statistically. The statistical modeling done using solar radiation resource exposure characteristic patterns of Pretoria, South Africa revealed an average annual daily solar radiation of 5.4645 Wh/m2/d and a 0.605 clearness index. The simulation and the design were done using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) and Matlab/Simulink software. The simulation finding showed that the HPS of the solar PV/battery combination has about a 59.62% saving in the net present cost (NPC) and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and an 80.87% saving in operating cost as against conventional BSs powered with a gen-set/battery.

Research on Control of Distributed Wind Solar Hybrid Power System

In this paper, the authors proposed control strategy algorithm(i.e.,maximum power point tracking(MPPT)) to improve the maximum power generation efficiency of distributed wind and solar power generation.The control algorithm mainly adopted the perturbation observation method(i.e., Power, Current, Torque, Speed and other parameters were perturbed, and the control value was adjusted according to the change of output value, so that the output value finally tended to the given value) and the improved MPPT control algorithm(i.e., change the reference voltage to change the duty ratio).Finally, the authors showed that the efficiency of electricity generation was significantly improved by experimental data comparison.

Grid-tied and stand-alone hybrid solar power system for desalination plant

This paper presents results on simulation, optimization and control of hybrid solar based energy system to power a desalination plant. The principal objective is to design a clean energy system to meet the desired electric load of the desalination plant with high renewable fraction, low cost of energy, and low carbon dioxide gas emissions. Hourly simulations and optimization were performed to determine the performance and life cycle cost of the different hybrid power configurations. The results of the baseline or the actual power system from the grid are compared with two new renewable power systems: (1) grid tied solar system: solar PV/grid/inverter power system, and (2) Off grid solar power system: PV/diesel generator/battery/inverter power system. The results show that the solar PV/grid/inverter power system offers the best performance compared to PV/diesel generator/battery/inverter. The total energy from the hybrid grid tied solar system is used to meet the AC load of the desalination plant with almost no excess electricity and power shortage. The proposed hybrid power system for the desalination plant is sustainable, economically viable and environmentally friendly: high renewable fraction (47.3%), low excess power (0.15%), low levelized cost of energy (90$/MWh), and low CO2 gas emissions (264.25kgCO2/MWh).

Optical Design and Validation of an Infrared Transmissive Spectrum Splitting Concentrator Photovoltaic Module

A new modular, hybrid solar power system is designed to generate both electrical and thermal energy by utilizing the full solar spectrum. The key element, an infrared-transparent concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) module, acts as a spectrum splitter, dividing solar radiation into two parts. The ultraviolet and visible light (“in-band”) are converted to electricity with high efficiency in CPV cells, while the infrared light (“out-of-band”) is transmitted directly to a thermal receiver, where thermal power may be converted to electricity by a suitable heat engine or used directly for industrial process heat applications whenever needed. Here, we describe the optical design, modeling, fabrication, and performance validation of this novel spectrum splitting CPV module. A transfer matrix style approach, cumulative transmission model, is built to study the reflection, absorption, and transmission in each layer of the CPV module. To optimize the optical performance, different materials for module superstrate/substrate, encapsulant, cell substrate, and cooling fluids are compared in order to enhance the transmission of out-of-band light through the CPV module by minimizing absorption. Six antireflection coatings along with front and backside electrical contact grids are designed to maximize transmittance of in-band light to the cell and out-of-band light to the thermal receiver. The final design, currently being prototyped, predicts out-of-band light transmission to the thermal receiver of 74.1% (for the passively cooled version) and 65.3% (for the actively cooled version). When epitaxial liftoff technology is applied, the transmission will change to 80.8% (passively cooled) and 71.9% (actively cooled). Experimental prototypes show good agreement with modeled optical performance.

Modeling, Simulation and Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid Wind, Solar PV Power System in Northern Kenya

There is a global push towards green and sustainable energy which has seen several initiatives being developed to spearhead and promote development of renewable energy generation sources however, this has not been without challenge. Solar and wind, the most abundant renewable energy resources are still expensive to deploy and unreliable as they suffer from intermittency. It has long been postulated in open published literature that solar and wind have complementary regimes and that it is possible to make headways in reliability of renewable energy systems by hybridization sources that have complementary regimes. A hybrid solution however is only viable if optimally sized. This paper reports on the findings of research examining the problem of optimally sizing a hybrid wind and solar renewable energy power system. In the research a target location was first identified and meteorological data collected. Components of the system were then mathematically modelled from which an objective function was developed. A parallel multi-deme implementation of genetic algorithms was used to perform the optimization. Multiple scenarios were prepared and simulated to obtain an optimal configuration of the hybrid power system. The results obtained were validated against openly published results from real word projects. A conclusion was then drawn on the basis of the results obtained. The research was successful as all objective were met. The key findings were first and foremost that in deed on some locations wind and solar have complementary regimes and can thus be hybridized. To this end an optimal configuration of the system for off grid deployment was developed with an attractive levelized cost of energy of 17 US cents per kWh. Secondly, the research from the results obtained decoupled resource optimal solutions from cost optimal solutions. It was shown that the least cost configuration didn’t necessary maximize on utility of the abundant resource. Lastly a clear direction for future research was proposed.

Simulation of Controllers for AC Microgrid

Objective: To design controllers for AC micro grid. To improve battery span, fuzzy control and energy management control the charging and discharging mode of the battery. Methods: A fuzzy controller can be used for the control of battery SOC of the renewable hybrid system and Energy Management Control is also used as above and to improve the performance of the system. Findings: The wind, solar hybrid power system plays a vital role today in renewable energy resources because it uses solar and wind power combined to create a stand-alone energy source that is both dependable and reliable. Conventional approach cannot provide with best way of energy management due to its non-linearity of battery charging process. So modern controllers are used in micro grid for battery SOC control. Improvement: In this work both fuzzy logic controller and EMC system is used for the hybrid system modeled using solar, wind and fuel cell system.

Development of an integrated hybrid solar thermal power system with thermoelectric generator for desalination and power production

In this study, an integrated system for desalinated water and electricity production is developed and thermodynamically analyzed. The proposed system consists of a solar-natural gas hybrid power plant, thermoelectric generator (TEG), Rankine cycle to produce electricity and flash distillation unit to produce fresh water. The proposed electricity-fresh water co-generation plant uses solar driven volumetric pressurized air receivers as main power supply and uses natural gas to compensate power when the direct normal irradiance is below 900W/m2. Thermoelectric materials are used to generate electricity from waste heat of gas turbine. Flash distillation unit is used to produce fresh water from seawater by the waste heat of Rankine cycle. All thermodynamic quantities, such as energy and exergy efficiencies, exergy destructions are calculated for all system components. The combustion reaction is modelled on ASPEN Plus software package. TEG unit is modelled on COMSOL Multiphysics software package, and the rest of the elements of the system are analyzed in the Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The overall exergy and energy efficiencies of the system are determined to be 54.9% and 44.5% respectively where the total energy input comes 50% from solar system and 50% from natural gas. The results show that TEG unit can generate power more than 32kW by using the waste heat. The present results indicate that it is possible to produce 3.36kg/s of fresh water from proposed system. Furthermore, the effects of direct normal irradiance level, ambient wind speed, seawater temperature, various cool side cooling options for the thermoelectric generator on the system performance are investigated.

Discrete cogeneration optimization with storage capacity decision support for dynamic hybrid solar combined heat and power systems in isolated rural villages

Pre-packaged cogeneration systems are popular as lead supply in distributed and isolated energy systems aimed at empowering remote off-grid communities and in supporting eco-villages in nature reserves. Energy cooperatives and independent power producers deploy cogeneration systems in community shared microgrid configurations as building blocks in smart localised multi-carrier energy grids. Small-scale renewable energy and distributed energy resources in the energy mix of multi-carrier combined heat and power microgrids call for the development of intelligent control automation solutions. This paper describes a multi-objective optimization solution where hierarchical digital microgrid control is integrated into solar powered micro-cogeneration. The control solution includes an integrated cost-competitive economic and environmental optimization algorithm customized around the needs of small off-grid isolated village settlements. A secondary stage optimization loop functions as a storage capacity decision support system, to alert the community when operating costs can be reduced through an investment into increased storage capacity for the village microgrid. This cost-aware control optimization algorithm is tested in a rural village microgrid by using parametric computer simulation models of a hybrid residential solar cogeneration system. Digital simulation experiments evaluate the operational plans and operational cost performances of energy management for different storage scenarios at an isolated remote rural location in Africa.

Evaluation of Solar Hybrid Power Systems and its Efficacy in the UAE Market

Due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, the supplying of the electricity demand using hybrid (solar and diesel) systems has attracted great interest in UAE [1]. In this paper, comparisons of electricity generation with three configurations has been studied, starting from the base scenario of i) multiple stand-alone hybrid systems which is upgraded to ii) AC-coupled mini-grid and iii) DC-coupled mini-grid. The available energy supply, storage and transmission units as well as internal electrical demand of RAKRIC’s open air R&D laboratory, Solab, have constituted the basis of the calculations. The cost estimates for the major components forming mini-grids have been found out to be comparable for AC-coupled and DC-coupled networks. Although the results provided in this paper do not apply universally since feasibility of electricity transmission and storage is notably affected by the positions of supply and load centers along with the generation and consumption time profiles. Solar hybrid power system can be the next option for the UAE fast growing market.

Feasibility of a Hybrid Solar and Wind Power System for an Island Community in The Bahamas

Renewable energy in The Bahamas holds promise as an alternative for electricity production, however, the country is heavily reliant on fossil fuels for electricity. This study examines the benefits of solar and wind energy on a community scale on the island of New Providence in The Bahamas. The electricity usage of 500 homes (a mix of luxury and normal) is produced by a combined power generation system that includes rooftop PV and a wind turbine. The system is grid connected and assumes a net billing policy because of the lack of a net metering policy and incentives in The Bahamas. An economic analysis along with sensitivity and risk analyses are performed to determine the system’s feasibility and how uncertainty in parameters affects its viability. To perform the analysis, the RETScreen software suite is used. It is found that a combination of solar and wind for electricity generation is economically feasible in The Bahamas even with the lack of incentives. The system produces a surplus of electrical energy on an annual basis with a greenhouse gas reduction of 2,026 tons of CO 2 per annum. The sensitivity and risk analyses indicate that the electricity rates (electricity bought from the grid) and the electricity export rates (electricity sold to the grid) significantly influence the NPV and payback period of the system. The results also show, with 95% confidence, the NPV is within the range US$14.0 million and US$25.1 million.

Techno-economic viability of a hybrid wind and solar power system for electrification of a commercial building in Shiraz, Iran

In this paper, techno-economic viability of a hybrid Wind/PV system with a battery and inverter was performed using the HOMER international optimization model. A commercial building in Shiraz, Iran was selected as a case study to analyze the feasibility study of installing the proposed hybrid Wind/PV system. Before the optimization process, different key parameters such as the monthly wind and solar resource, monthly and daily electrical load consumption, economic constraints such as interest rate and project lifetime, the components features such as the battery or inverters sizes and costs and other related information were collected and imported into HOMER. The optimization results suggested that the most efficient and economical hybrid energy system is a combination of 9 kW photovoltaic panel, 1 wind turbine (10 kW), 5 batteries and 5 kW converter. The total net present cost (NPC) and the cost of energy (COE) for this system were estimated to be $89,884 and $0.619/kWh. The final results of the study concluded that the employment of the proposed hybrid energy system for electrification of the studied commercial building in Shiraz is highly recommended.

Numerical Modeling, Simulation and Validation of Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic, Wind Turbine and Fuel Cell Power System

The energy conversion equations describing the total power generated by a hybrid system of solar photovoltaic, wind turbine, fuel cell as well as hydrogen storage were presented, and integrated simultaneously. For the purpose of validating, this simulation model, the aforementioned equations were coded with MATLAB V13.2 and used for optimization and design purposes. A block diagram approach was used during the simulation with MATLAB. In order to validate and tune up the predicted output results, on-site data was used to validate the simulation program under various conditions. Comparison between the data and predicted results showed a fair agreement.

Prospects of solar photovoltaic–micro-wind based hybrid power systems in western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in India

The western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh is known as the hydro-power state of India with associated social and environmental problems of large hydro power plants. The reduced water inflow in the rivers during extreme winters affects power generation in the state. Therefore solar and wind resources need to be utilized to supplement power generation requirements. With this objective the prospects of photovoltaic–micro wind based hybrid systems are studied for 12 locations of the state. The NASA data, Artificial Neural Network predicted and ground measured data are used in the analysis of Hamirpur location whereas for remaining 11 locations estimated, NASA and Artificial Neural Network predicted data are used, as measured solar and wind data are not available for most of the locations in the state. Root Mean Square Error between three input data types are found to range from 0.08 to 1.89. The results show that ANN predicted data are close to measured/estimated data. A 6kWp roof mounted photovoltaic–micro wind hybrid system at Hamirpur with daily average energy demand of 5.2kWh/day is studied. This system specifications are used to obtain optimum PV–micro wind based hybrid power system configurations for all locations. The optimum configuration for Hamirpur is found to be a 5kWp micro wind turbine, 2kW converter, 10 batteries and 8kWp PV system whereas for other 11 locations a 5kWp micro wind turbine, 2kW converter, 10 batteries and 2–9kWp PV systems are obtained. The normalized solar and wind energy generation are found to range between 1034–1796kWh/kWp/yr and 222–616.8kWh/kWp/yr respectively for all locations. The study shows that state has good prospect of power generation from hybrid systems with major solar and minor wind components. However, a detailed follow up wind resource assessment programme is needed for the Himalayan region to identify true wind penetration for wind based solar hybrid power systems. The methodology presented can be used for the prediction of the photovoltaic and wind power generation potential for any region worldwide.

Techno‐economic feasibility study of autonomous hybrid wind and solar power systems for rural areas in Iran, A case study in Moheydar village

In this research, a feasibility study of using a small wind turbine as an integrated system with a solar photovoltaic system and a diesel generator was performed using the HOMER® optimization model. For this purpose three main scenarios have been taken into account. In the first two scenarios the diesel price was considered 0.8 $/L (Scenario 1) and 1.5 $/L (Scenario 2) and no limits were assumed for emissions of diesel generator. The most efficient system in the first scenario consists of one wind turbine (15 kW), a 75 kW generator, 35 batteries, and a 15 kW converter with renewable fraction of 53%. However in the second scenario, 7 kW photovoltaic array was added to the designed optimal hybrid system and thus the renewable fraction was increased to 71%. In the third scenario the limits were specified for the different pollutants using the CAP (Ontario Clean Air Program) standard. It was revealed that the optimal configuration which contains a 75 kW diesel generator, 21 kW photovoltaic array, 75 kW wind turbines, 50 batteries, and a 20 kW converter would be the most economically feasible. Emission analysis revealed that among all of the designed hybrid systems, highest level of CO2 emissions was observed for a stand‐alone diesel system with value of 115,436 kg/yr and the lowest level was observed for the hybrid system in the third scenario with value of 991 kg/yr. Additionally it was proved that the third scenario would be the best option for connecting the system to the grid. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 1521–1527, 2015

G260(P) Effect of solar panels on in-patient paediatric mortality in a district hospital in sierra leone

Background Sierra Leone has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. Most of these deaths are due to pneumonia, malnutrition, diarrhoea, malaria and neonatal causes, with hypoxia often being the final factor. Electricity reaches less than 10% of the population in Sierra Leone. This is a significant challenge for health facilities, as without a constant supply of electricity they cannot administer oxygen (provided by oxygen concentrators,) or have reliable lighting. Fuel to run generators is expensive, and there are frequent fuel shortages. Methods In conjunction with a local non-for-profit organisation we designed a hybrid solar power system to support the electricity needs of a paediatric department in a district hospital in Sierra Leone. The system was designed to provide lighting and electricity to power two oxygen concentrators. The solar power system along with low-energy lights was installed in July 2013. The hospital had received training in ETAT (Emergency Triage, Assessment and Treatment) and set up a paediatric triage sixteen months prior to this. We retrospectively analysed in-patient paediatric mortality pre and post solar power installation, to evaluate whether there was any impact on mortality. In order to minimise any differences seen being due to seasonal variations in mortality we collected data during the same six months of the year, pre and post solar power installation. Data was analysed in Stata 12.1 using Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results From August 2012 to January 2013, 920 children were admitted to the paediatric wards, and from August 2013 to January 2014 902 children were admitted. Mean in-paediatric mortality across the six-month period prior to solar panel installation was 3.7% (95% CI 2.0–5.3%), which reduced to 1.8% (95% CI 0.5–3.0%) in the six-month period after solar panel installation; p = 0.028. Conclusions The installation of solar panels was associated with a reduction in mortality in one paediatric department. The cost effectiveness of this intervention in comparison to other interventions, and its longer-term impact on child mortality requires further evaluation. This initiative could be effective at reducing paediatric mortality in other similar low-resource settings, with limited access to electricity, in combination with other improvements to paediatric hospital care.