Techno-economic analysis of a PV–wind–battery–diesel standalone power system in a remote area

Abstract

The global acceptance of solar and wind resources for power generation has continued to increase due to the fluctuation of world oil and gas prices, recent advances in technology, high prices of fossil fuels, no direct greenhouse gas emission from solar and wind resources and government policies to support utilisation of renewable energy resources (RESs). In recent times, RESs have become a potential alternative to supply electricity to the rural communities where the extension of transmission and distribution lines is difficult due to technical and financial barriers. In view of this, this study deals with the optimisation of net present cost (NPC), fuel cost, operation cost and cost of energy (COE) of the hybrid system which consists of photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine generator (WTG), diesel generator and battery storage system. A hybrid power system is designed in this research work to serve a remote community. The optimisation of the key performance indicators of the proposed hybrid power system is done by using the hybrid optimisation model for electric renewable (HOMER). The results obtained from this research work are analysed to select the best options among the available configurations based on the lowest NPC and COE produced by each configuration. The simulation results from several case studies show that incorporation of PV and WTG have reduced the operating cost of the system.