EEET2334 Assignment

Aim
Design and create a grid-connected renewable generator system for a residential
area within Victoria using HOMER legacy software.

Introduction
The goal of this experiment is to understand the implementation of a gridconnected renewable energy system in a residential area. The experiment will
highlight the costs that are required in order to build the system as well as long
term costs that are associated with it such as operating costs and maintenance
costs. It will also give us an idea of how much energy can be created specific
areas while also taking into account the different weather situations in those
particular areas i.e. sunlight and wind as well as government rebates that are
being handed out to personal and business users.

Background
As fossil fuels continue to deplete in the near future, the world is constantly
finding ways to preserve these fossil fuels while also finding various ways to
generate energy. Apart from low resources, global warming is also a key issue
that needs to be addressed. Renewable energy has been the biggest focus point
by many due to its long term sustainability and relatively cleaner emissions.
There are many different ways to develop renewable energy. The most common
methods that the general population knows of utilize solar power and wind
power. Solar power is harnessed through the use of photovoltaic cells. These
function by converting the energy from light directly into electricity. Wind power
is most commonly attached to wind turbines. These work by having the turbines
spun by the wind. When the turbines spin, it turns a generator which creates
kinetic energy.
However, there can be several drawbacks when it comes to using the above
forms of renewable energy. For solar power; if the weather proves to be cloudy,
the lack of sun would mean that less energy would be created. Similarly for wind
power, areas that lack wind would mean that the turbines would spin less and
hence, less energy is also created. Should any of these cases occur in real life
situations, towns and cities could possibly have no energy during those periods
hence a backup source of energy would be required which usually comes in the
form of using fossil fuels. However, as these fossil fuels are used to a lesser
extent in this situation, it would be to slow down its depletion.
As governments are now implementing rebate programs to people for using
renewable energies, it can be clearly seen that this is a way to help push for
people to slowly transition towards these forms of energy. As time goes on and
the costs of fossil fuels continue to increase, these rebate programs will certainly
affect the way people buy their energy.