European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.45 No.4 (2010), pp.620-629 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2010 http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.

htm

Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid System of Renewable Energy for a Reliable Load Supply without Interruption
Souissi Ahmed Network and Electric Machines Research Unit, INSAT Northern Urban Centre, 1080 Tunis Cedex, TUNISIA E-mail: ahmed_souissi@ymail.com Hasnaoui Othman Network and Electric Machines Research Unit, INSAT Northern Urban Centre, 1080 Tunis Cedex, TUNISIA E-mail: hasnaouiothman@yahoo.fr Sallami Anis Network and Electric Machines Research Unit, INSAT Northern Urban Centre, 1080 Tunis Cedex, TUNISIA E-mail: anis.sellami@esstt.rnu.tn Abstract The hybrid systems of renewable energy can contribute in a significant way to the durable development in several isolated areas far from the main utility grid. But, because of climatic change which is one of greatest challenges which must take up the international community, the supply of these isolated areas with their needs of electricity by renewable energy source can have interruptions. For that, the diesel generator used as auxiliary source and combined with the wind-PV-battery hybrid system can ensure a reliable supply without interruption. This paper discusses an optimization solution of a hybrid system of renewable energy by using the Homer software, and shows the importance of the emergency generator in order to ensure the reliability and the economy of the system.

Keywords: Hybrid system, Renewable energy, Diesel generator, Optimization, HOMER

1. Introduction
Many villages in the world live in isolated areas far from the main utility grid. It is really impossible their meet by the conventional sources because of the high cost of transport and the distribution of energy to this remote areas [1]. Currently, the electric provisioning of these sectors is done by the hybrid systems of production of electricity whose diesel generator plays a significant role like auxiliary source [2]. These hybrid systems involve combination of different energy sources like wind/battery, photovoltaic/battery, wind/ photovoltaic/battery, wind/photovoltaic /diesel/battery... It was shown that the hybrid systems of energy can in a significant way reduce the total cost of energy produced, while providing a more reliable provisioning of electricity by the combination of

Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid System of Renewable Energy for a Reliable Load Supply without Interruption

621

several sources of energy. The concept of hybrid energy system is shown in Figure 1 [3]. In this architecture, the diesel generator (or the electrical supply network) is used as auxiliary source.
Figure 1: General diagram of a hybrid energy system

The first step for the establishment of a hybrid system is the prefeasibility analysis. The climatic conditions determine the importance and the availability of the wind and solar energy in a particular site. A prefeasibility study is based on the weather data (wind speed and solar insulation) and the load required for the specific site. After the prefeasibility study, the sizing of the hybrid system components (capacity of wind generator, numbers of photovoltaic panels, numbers of batteries...) is based on the climatic data and the maximum capacity, and plays a significant role in the determination of the reliability and the economy of the system [3]. Several studies were discussed to determine the optimal sizing of the hybrid system of renewable energy and various optimization techniques and software tools are used such as artificial intelligence methods [4], multi-objective design [5], probabilistic approach [6], iterative technique [7], graphic construction method [8] and linear programming [9]. The continuous supply of certain load in isolated area does not tolerate the interruption of electricity (hospital, telecommunication stations...). The optimal sizing of this supply sources plays a significant role for the economic and energy reliability of the system. It is to be recalled that the sizing of the hybrid systems of energy is based on the meteorological data of the implementation area. This requires the addition of the buck-up sources of energy, as diesel generator, in these types of applications. This paper discusses an optimization solution of the configuration of a renewable energy hybrid system (Wind-PV-diesel-battery) by using HOMER software and shows the importance of the diesel generator, as back-up source, in order to ensure a reliable supply without interruption. HOMER Software (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) [10] shouted by National Renewable Energies Laboratory (NREL) was employed like tool of sizing and optimization. This software contains a certain component count of energy and evaluates the suitable options while being based on the cost and the availability of the energy resources.

2. Optimization of the Hybrid System Requirements

2.1. Hybrid System Components The proposed hybrid renewable energy consists of a wind turbine, inverter, continuous bus and solar photovoltaic panels. Batteries are included as part of back-up and storage system, Figure 2.

622

Souissi Ahmed, Hasnaoui Othman and Sallami Anis

Figure 2: Renewable energy hybrid system

In this simulation, Bergey Wind Powers BWC Excel-R model is considered. It has a rated capacity of 8.1 kW and provides 48 V dc as output. Its initial cost is $28500 and its replacement at $24500 [11]. Annual operation and maintenance cost is $200. Its life time is estimated at 20 years. The numbers of unit to consider in simulation varied between 1and 8. Sizes of photovoltaic panels to consider varied between 3 and 16 kW with a life time of 25 years. A 1 kW solar energy systems installation and replacement costs are taken as $8000 and $7000, respectively. Trojan L16P Battery models (6 V, 360Ah, 1.075 kWh) are considered in the scheme, [12]. The quantities of batteries to consider are 0, 4, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30, 34, 38, 42, 46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 70, 74, 78, 82, 86, 90, 94, 98, 102, 106, 110, 114, 118, 122, 126,130, 134, 138, 142, 146 and 150. Cost of one battery is $275 with a maintenance cost of $3. For a 1 kW converter the installation and maintenance costs are taken as $1000 and $10, respectively. Seven different sizes of converter (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 and 14 KW) are taken in the model. Lifetime of a unit is considered to be 15 years with an efficiency of 90%. The project lifetime is estimated at 20 years. The annual interest rate is fixed at 6%. The constraints inputs required by software are given in Table 1.
Tableau 1: Constraints inputs
Parameters Maximum annual capacity shortage Minimum renewable fraction Percent of annual peak load Percent of hourly load Percent of hourly solar output Percent of hourly wind output Value (%) 2 0 0 10 10 20

The daily average load variation is shown in Figure 3; it is assumed that it is identical for every day of the year. The annual peak load of 7.2kW was observed between 18:00h and 19:00h, with 97KWh /day energy consumption.
Figure 3: Daily average load variation

Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid System of Renewable Energy for a Reliable Load Supply without Interruption

623

The monthly wind speed variation, the monthly clearness index and the daily radiation are shown in Figure 4 and 5. These climatic data are specific for the area of Hawaria (Tunisia) and result from the metrological station of NASA [13]. The annual average wind speed and the annual average solar radiation are respectively 5.35 m/s and 5.22 kWh/m2/j. HOMER software requires several data to calculate the output of the wind turbine and the photovoltaic panel each hour of the year. These parameters are summarized in Table 2, some of these parameters are approximated.
Tableau 2: Parameters required by software
Parameters Weibull distribution factor autocorrelation factor hours of peak wind speed diurnal pattern strength Altitude Anemometer height Surface roughness length Latitude Longitude Value 2 0.93 20 0.14 26 10 0.05 37 11

Figure 4: Monthly average wind speed variation

Figure 5: Average monthly solar radiation

8 Daily Radiation (kWh/m/d)

Global Horizontal Radiation

1.0

0.6 4 0.4 2 0.2

Jan

Feb

Mar Apr May Jun Daily Radiation

Jul

Aug Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

0.0

Clearness Index

2.2. Optimization The optimization algorithm of the hybrid system of renewable energy used by Homer software in simulation is presented in Figure 6. Inputs of the algorithm are the technical and economic data of all the components of the system. These data cover the climatic variables, the load and the constraints on the operation of the system.

Clearness Index

0.8

624

Souissi Ahmed, Hasnaoui Othman and Sallami Anis

Figure 6: Optimization chart of the hybrid WindPV system

Inputs of the system are mentioned previously. For each combination n, The total power, E(t), generated by the wind turbine and PV generator at hour t is calculated as follows: E (t) = EPV(t)+EW(t) During system operation at any time interval, one of the following three situations can appear: The total energy generated by the PV and wind generators can be greater than the load demand (EL(t)). In this situation, the energy surplus is stored in the batteries (Echar) after calculating, as a preliminary, the maximum amount of energy that can be charged (Echar_max(t)) in the battery banc. The excess of energy (E.E(t)), if there exists, is calculated for each hour. The demand of the load can be greater than the total energy generated by the PV and wind generators: In this case, the load must be covered by the energy stored in batteries (Edisch) after calculating, as a preliminary, the maximum amount of energy that can be discharged (Edisch_max(t)) from the battery banc. The deficit of energy (D.E(t)), if there exists, is calculated for each hour. The load demand can be equal to the total energy generated by the PV and a wind generator, the batteries capacity remains unchanged. The total excess (E.Etot) and deficit (D.Etot) of energy that can occur during the year are calculated to decide the rejection or the save of the combination, by comparison between the total

Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid System of Renewable Energy for a Reliable Load Supply without Interruption

625

deficit and that required (D.Ereq). Finally, an economic study is done allowing a classification of the feasible combinations according to the total net present cost of the system. 2.3. Optimization Results HOMER provides the simulations results in terms of optimal system and sensitivity analysis. The optimization results of the renewable hybrid system (Figure 2) are shown in Figure 7 and 8. HOMER posts a list of configurations which it noted feasible for this project. They are enumerated in the order of more to least reliable (from top to bottom). The first combination of Figure 7 gives the optimal solution. This optimal configuration is composed by 8 KW panel photovoltaic, 2 wind turbine, 118 batteries and 12 KW power converter. The electric power consumed by the load is 30603 KWh/yr, the wind machines produced 74% of the total energy served (38051 kWh) while the PV array produced 26% of the energy (13699 kWh). Although an excess energy of 16239 kWh was produced but a capacity shortage of only 633 kWh (2%) was experienced during the year, see Figure 8.
Figure 7: Optimization result of the wind-PV-battery

Figure 8: Energy yield from the optimal system

The problem of climate change caused, in first place, by the greenhouse gas emissions led to an unstable climate and extreme meteorological phenomena like hurricanes, typhoons, storms..., this can influences in a significant way on the reliable supply of the renewable energy sources. A sensitivity analysis was carried out. The annual average wind speed (4.5, 5.35 and 6 m/s) and the annual average solar radiation (4.5, 5.22 and 5.5 kWh/m 2 / J) were used as sensitivity variables.

626

Souissi Ahmed, Hasnaoui Othman and Sallami Anis

Overall 30576 systems (8 (wind turbine) 39 (battery bank) 14 (PV array) 7 (power converter)) were simulated for 9 sensitivities cases which mean a total of 275184 combinations were examined. The optimization results are presented in Figure 9 according to the sensitivity variables. The optimal configuration of the hybrid system is sensitive to the climatic variations, indeed, the wind-PV hybrid system design allowing a reliable supply of the load, changes with the variation of the climatic variables.
Figure 9: Optimization result of the wind-PV-battery according to the sensitivity variables

To overcome the problem of the climatic change and to ensure a reliable supply without interruption, the addition of a diesel generator, as back-up source, to the hybrid system is essential, Figure 10. The optimal sizing of the hybrid wind-PV-diesel generator-battery system in terms of reliability and economy passes by the determination of the optimal configuration of the diesel generator-battery system, Figure 11. Diesel generation system is one of the solutions for electrifying several remote areas. The choice of diesel generator depends on type and nature of the load. Severe variation in the load results in poor engine performance. The generator performs efficiently when it is operating close to its rated capacity. Continued operation at lower loads results in an inefficient engine performance and higher cost of energy. One of the options for the load management is to integrate battery banc with such systems to improve the overall system efficiency. Sizes of diesel generator to consider in simulation vary from 3 to 7 kW. Their initial costs and their replacements are respectively (2990, 2400$), (3978, 3200$), (4984, 4000$), (5981, 4800$) and (6978, 5600$). Their operation and maintenance are of 0.05$/h. The lifetime of the generator is estimated at 15000 operating hours [14]. The diesel price is 0.66$ per liter. The optimization results of the hybrid system diesel-battery (Figure 11) are shown in Figure 12. The optimal configuration is composed by 5 KW diesel generator, 18 batteries and 2 KW power converter. Compared to the second optimal configuration of Figure 12, we can note that addition of battery banc with diesel generator improved the system efficiency.
Figure 10: Wind-PV-diesel-battery system hybrid energy Figure 11: Diesel-battery energy system

Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid System of Renewable Energy for a Reliable Load Supply without Interruption
Figure 12: Optimization result of the diesel-battery system

627

This solution is cheap in term of cost energy produced (0.382 $/kWh against 0.540 $/kWh in case of the hybrid system wind-PV-battery). Their major disadvantages are the pollution of the environment, the noise and the difficulty of the diesel transport to the isolated areas. The total amounts of each pollutant produced annually by the optimal diesel-battery system are summarized in table 3.
Tableau 3: Annual pollutants emitted by the optimal diesel-battery system
Pollutant Carbon dioxide Carbon monoxide Unburned hydrocarbons Particulate matter Sulfur dioxide Nitrogen oxides Emissions (kg/yr) 29676 73,3 8,11 5,52 59,6 654

The optimal configuration of the hybrid system wind-PV-diesel-battery intended for reliable load supply and takes in to account the meteorological data changes is deduced from the two optimal configurations selected: (wind-PV-battery) and (diesel-battery). It is composed by 8 KW panel photovoltaic, 2 wind turbine, 118 batteries, 5 KW diesel generator and 12 KW power converter. For this chosen configuration, a sensitivity analysis was carried out by taking like variable of sensitivity the annual average wind speed (from 0 to 6 m/s), the annual average solar radiation (from 0 to 6 kWh/m2/j) and the price of diesel (0.5 and 0.8). The optimization results are presented in Figure 13 and 14, in graphical form according to the sensitivity variables and superimposed the levelized cost of energy. The variation of the cost of energy is function of the diesel price and the climatic conditions.
Figure 13: Optimal system type with diesel price equal to 0.5$

628

Souissi Ahmed, Hasnaoui Othman and Sallami Anis

Figure 14: Optimal system type with diesel price equal to 0.8$

The daily values of electricity required by the load, the energy supplied by the hybrid power wind-PV-diesel system, the excess of energy and the energy absorbed and provided by the battery banc are shown in Figure 15 and 16, during the first seven days of the month of January, and for an annual average wind speed equal to 2 m/s and an annual average solar radiation equal to 1 kWh/m2/j. When the wind speed and the solar radiation are low, the load is supplied by the battery banc (the first 2 days of January). When the state of charge of battery banc reaches its minimal level (30%), the diesel generator functions. The surplus of energy produced by the diesel generator and the renewable energy sources (variation of the climatic data) is stored in the battery banc. The excess of electricity is practically zero. The storage batteries is a key factor in a hybrid system of renewable energy, it allow to minimize the number of starting/stopping cycle of the diesel generator, which reduces the problem of its premature wear, and to satisfy the request of the load in spite of renewable sources fluctuations.
Figure 15: Evolution of excessive energy, battery input power and state of charge

Figure 16: Evolution of electricity required by the load and the energy supplied by the hybrid power system

Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid System of Renewable Energy for a Reliable Load Supply without Interruption

629

3. Conclusion
After having determined the optimal configuration of the hybrid wind-PV-battery system in terms of reliability and economy, we showed the effect of the climatic change on the reliable supply of the load. The simulations results prove that the combination of a diesel generator, as buck-up source, with the hybrid wind-PV-battery system is the best solution to guarantee the reliable supply without interruption of the load under the climatic data change. The optimal sizing of the hybrid wind-PV-diesel-battery system is deduced from the two optimal configurations chosen: (wind-PV-battery) and (diesel-battery).

References
[1] S. Rehman, I.M El-Amin, F. Ahmad, S.M. Shaahid,A.M. Al-Shehri, J.M. Bakhashwain and A. Shash, 2007. Feasibility study of hybrid retrofits to an isolated off-grid diesel power plant, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, pp.635653. D. SahebKoussa and M. Belhamel, 2008 Contribution ltude thorique du comportement d'un systme hybride (olien-photovoltaque-diesel) de production dlectricit sans interruption, Revue des Energies Renouvelables 11, pp. 137-151. Pragya Nema, R.K. Nema and Saroj Rangnekar, 2008. A current and future state of art development of hybrid energy system using wind and PV-solar: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, pp. 1-8. Hong xing Yang, Wei Zhou, Lin Lu and Zhaohong Fang, 2008. Optimal sizing method for stand-alone hybrid solarwind system with LPSP technology by using genetic algorithm, Solar Energy 82, pp. 354367. Dufo Lpez and Bernal Agustn, 2008. Multi-objective design of PVwinddieselhydrogen battery systems, Renewable Energy 33, pp. 2559-2572. A.D. Bagul, Z.M. Salameh and B. Borowy, 1996. Sizing of stand-alone hybrid PV/wind system using a three-event probabilistic density approximation Solar Energy 56, pp. 323-335. Hong xing Yang, Lin Lu and Wei Zhou, 2007. A novel optimization sizing model for hybrid solarwind power generation system, Solar energy 81, pp. 7684. Tomas Markvart, 1996. Sizing of hybrid PVwind energy systems, Solar Energy 59, pp. 277281. W. Kellogg, M.H. Nehrir, G. Venkataramanan and V. Gerez, 1996, Optimal unit sizing for a hybrid PV/wind generating system, Electric Power System Research 39, pp. 35-38. HOMER V2.68 beta, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393, URL: http://www.nrel.gov/homer. http://msmelectric.com/montage/catalog/ www.trojanbattery.com http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse http://www.hellopro.fr/Groupes_electrogenes-2009366-fr-rubrique.html

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]