Eugene Fernandez

Hybrid energy system size optimization and sensitivity evaluation for sustainable supply in a remote region in India

This paper illustrates the size optimization of a hybrid energy system designed for a remote region in India. This sustainable system combines a solar photovoltaic system and a wind turbine as a small-scale alternative source, where conventional generation is not practical. This alternative supply option includes the diesel generator as the backup source and the battery as the storage device. HOMER software obtained from the National Renewable Energy Website has been applied for simulation and evaluation purposes. The optimal system obtained in this way will be the one having the least net present cost (life-cycle cost). Furthermore, sensitivity analysis has been carried out on feasible systems for two variables, that is, diesel price and annual real interest rate, to examine the effect of variation of these variables on the type of the system. This futuristic situation leads to more favourable conditions for sustainable supply option with much reduced life-cycle cost of the system.

Reliability evaluation of a solar photovoltaic system with and without battery storage

Solar energy is considered as one of the major renewable energy sources and electricity generated from photovoltaic system involves zero green house gas emission and zero dependence on fossil fuel. However, the use of solar energy suffers from the challenge of ensuring steady flow of electric power particularly during the periods of low solar radiation. This has caused system designers to look into the reliability aspects of solar photovoltaic systems. One way of minimizing the impact of irregular power supply is by the inclusion of a storage unit so that the surplus energy generated during period of high solar radiation can be stored and utilized later during periods when solar radiation is low or absent. But, storage systems using batteries are an expensive proposition. It is of interest to system design engineers to examine just how much is gained in terms of reliability of power delivery at the cost of hardware failure of panel for solar PV systems operated with and without battery storage. The present paper attempts to investigate the changes in system reliability of a solar photovoltaic system under the cases of operation with and without adequate battery storage. Reliability estimation through Loss of load probability index is carried out using Monte Carlo Technique.

Rural area application of HOMER software for feasibility analysis of hybrid energy system with an improved approach

For a power supply in a remote rural area where a grid supply is infeasible, a hybrid energy system consisting of a renewable energy mix, with a backup generation, could be a viable alternative. Feasibility analysis and determination of optimal combination of such a system is a complex task owing to the uncertain nature of renewable energies, load demand uncertainty, non-linear characteristic of components and interdependency of process components. HOMER software performs this complicated task in an easy and accurate way by economically analysing various possible alternatives and sorting them out for optimality. However the limitation of results for optimality determination based on single criteria has been improved in the present paper using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A rural study area has been identified for validation of proposed methodology. The approach provides the most optimal hybrid energy system for the selected study area accommodating many aspects of analysis allowing suitable weightage to each of them.