Hybrid Wind and Solar Systems Optimization

Abstract

Solar and wind energy systems are considered as promising power-generating sources due to their availability and advantages in local power generation. However, a drawback is their unpredictable nature. This problem can be partially overcome by integrating these two resources or more in a proper combination to form a hybrid energy system. Nevertheless, the harmonization of different energy sources, energy storage, and load requirements is a challenging task. Thus, the performance of various possible configurations has to be investigated to reach the optimum combination using a simulation program. The number of simulations and time required for calculation increases with the increase in number of optimization variables. Therefore, the selection of a quick and accurate optimization technique is very important. Different software packages, such as HOMER and iHOGA, were developed, where each of them is based on a different optimization algorithm.