Design of wind-PV based hybrid standalone energy systems for three sites in central India

Abstract

The aim of this study is to design renewable energy based hybrid standalone systems to supply two rural and one urban sites of Madhya Pradesh state in India. These locations characterize different load profiles and wind and solar resources. The wind speed data measured at these sites and solar radiation data obtained from NASA are utilized to carry out the analyses of these systems using HOMER Pro. These systems are designed to cater for domestic electricity demand of one rural site, domestic and agricultural demand of another rural site and residential load demand of staff quarters of an urban institution. The pattern of power consumption of the loads considered for these sites is suitably modelled and different combinations of hybrid systems are simulated to identify the optimal system based on least life cycle cost. Results show that the most economically feasible system to supply the load demand of the three sites is comprised of different combinations of renewable energy sources viz. only wind, wind- solar and only solar based systems. Each design also includes diesel generator back up and battery storage to ensure reliability of power supply and a converter to maintain the energy flow between ac and dc components.