A Comparative Study of the Optimal Sizing and Management of Off-Grid Solar/Wind/Diesel and Battery Energy Systems for Remote Areas

Abstract

Electrification in rural areas is relatively costly compared to urban areas. Therefore, the aim of this research is to identify the best combination of hybrid renewable energy systems (HRESs) to satisfy the load demand in a sustainable and cost-efficient way. The techno-economic study of stand-alone hybrid photovoltaic–wind turbine–diesel–battery-converter energy systems based on the hybrid optimization model for electric renewable (HOMER) simulation has been analyzed for various locations in the Tamil Nadu state, India. Various combinations of the systems have been compared and analyzed based on the performance of their technical parameters, costs, the electrical power production of each source, and unmet load. The findings indicated that the off-grid solar–wind–diesel–battery configuration is the most economical for all the sites among other system configurations. Comparing with conventional diesel generators among all the locations, a combination of solar/wind/diesel/battery is the economically best design for Thoothukudi, with the least and most reliable solution in terms of net present cost and cost of energy. Also, the impact of intermittent variables becomes significant, so sensitivity analysis for the various parameters has been carried out. The study finds that the least cost of electricity and the net present cost of electricity for Thoothukudi are achieved at 0.266 $/kWh and 138,197 $, respectively. This is economical compared to a stand-alone diesel system where the obtained COE is $1.88 and the NPC is $977523. In the stand-alone diesel operating mode, 41854 kg of CO2 is produced, which is higher than CO2 emissions associated with any other renewable energy systems. According to the results, the Kanyakumari location outperforms in terms of producing environmental pollutants with emission of 1,020 kg/y CO2 at their best. Moreover, the results of the proposed study imply that the proposed renewable energy system in remote sites could be a more economical measure.