Energy Conversion and Management 105 (2015) 471–479

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Feasibility study and energy conversion analysis of stand-alone hybrid

renewable energy system
Fazia Baghdadi a,⇑, Kamal Mohammedi b, Said Diaf c, Omar Behar d
a
Department of Mechanics, University of Mouloud Mammeri, Tiziouzou 15000, Algeria
b
Department of Mechanics of University M’Hamed Bougara, Boumerdès 35000, Algeria
c
Development Center of Renewable Energies, Bouzareha, Algeria
d
L.E.M.I Lab., University M’Hamed Bougara, Boumerdès 35000, Algeria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: There is a great interest in the development of renewable power technologies in Algeria, and more
Received 4 November 2014 particularly hybrid concept. The present paper has investigated the performance of hybrid PV–Wind–
Accepted 18 July 2015 Diesel–Battery configuration based on hourly measurements of Adrar climate (southern Algeria). Data
Available online 13 August 2015
of global solar radiation, ambient temperature and wind speed for a period of one year have been used.
Firstly, the proposed hybrid system has been optimized by means of HOMER software. The optimization
Keywords: process has been carried out taking into account renewable resources potential and energy demand;
Stand-alone system
while maximizing renewable electricity use and fuel saving are the purpose. In the second step, a
Wind
Solar
mathematical model has been developed to ensure efficient energy management on the basis of various
Modeling operation strategies. The analysis has shown that renewable energy system (PV–Wind) is able to supply
Energy management about 70% of the demand. Wind power has ranked first with 43% of the annual total electricity production
Hybrid system followed by diesel generator (with 31%) while the remaining fraction is being to PV panels. In this
context, 69% of the fossil fuel can be saved when using the proposed hybrid configuration instead of
the diesel generators that are currently installed in most remote regions in Algeria. Such a concept is very
promising to meet the focus of renewable energy program announced in 2011.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction on the development of renewable and sustainable energy

resources [3–7].
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) the global Following this approach, Algeria has announced, in March 2011,
energy consumption will increase by 37% to 2040 [1]. a very promising program to develop and expand the use of renew-
Furthermore, it has been expected a significant raise in the world able energies in order to move from the fossil fuels era to the green
electricity demand by 80% over the period 2012–2040 [1]. As a energy era by 2030 [8]. Algeria is aimed through this program to be
result, fossil fuel prices are projected to move forward in the next a pioneer in the production of electricity from solar photovoltaic
20 years to reach $215/barrel in 2035 [2]. Nowadays, current and concentrating solar thermal power (CSP). Therefore, solar
energy policies are focusing on the concept of energy efficiency energy is the major focus of the Algerian renewable energy pro-
gains and low carbon fuels [1]. The penetration of low-carbon tech- gram and it is expected to supply about 37% of the national elec-
nologies in recent years and the enhancements in the efficiency of tricity need by 2030 [8].
energy conversion systems have just slowdown the demand Day than day, the use of both CSP and photovoltaic technologies
growth. It is worthy to note that the energy prices are strongly around the world, particularly in Spain, Germany and the US, has
related to the turmoil in parts of the Middle East and North shown a significant cost reduction through efficiency improve-
Africa (MENA). Therefore, the fluctuations in fossil fuels prices in ments and scaling up [9,10]. Whereas CSP options are more pre-
the last decade together with the coming shortage and depletion ferred at large scale applications, the photovoltaic has proven
have heighten concerns over future energy supply security. To this their performance at small scale and off-grid use in remote regions.
end, advanced energy policies, in many countries, have been based The competitiveness at small scale applications, easy maintenance
and installation, and lower energy cost in regions where electrical
grid is not available are the most important advantages of solar
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +213 77 165 2440; fax: +213 24 91 49 60.
photovoltaic technology [11].
E-mail address: fazi2020@yahoo.fr (F. Baghdadi).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.07.051
0196-8904/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
472 F. Baghdadi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 105 (2015) 471–479

Nomenclature

Ac PV panels receiving area TC cell temperature

Cbat capacity of the battery at time (t) Vc cut-off wind speed
Cbatmax maximum capacity of the battery Vd cut-in wind speed
DOD deep of discharge V(H) wind speed measured at the hub height
Es global solar irradiation Vn rated wind speed
Nmod number of PV modules
Pcha power demand Greek symbols
Pf full module factor a wind speed power law coefficient
Pge power produced by the diesel generator ggen efficiency of PV generator
Pn nominal power gmod efficiency of the PV module
Ppvs, PWs electricity produced by PV and wind generators gref efficiency reference of PV generator
respectively gdc/ac converter efficiency
Pw power produced by the wind turbine gdecha efficiency of battery discharging process

For the case of Algeria this latter advantage is of a particular most suitable for hybrid photovoltaic–wind power generation
interest because of its large area and lower density of population. plants. Hafez and Bhattacharya [18] have analyzed the potential
For instance, the population density in the part of Sahara is less of installing hybrid PV–wind–diesel system in Johor Bahru,
than one people per one square kilometer. Covering such a wide Malaysia. Akms et al. [19] and Hoque et al. [20] have been inter-
region with power grid is an expensive investment. Even, if it were ested on the PV–wind–diesel generator hybrid power system
be, the cost of electricity will be higher than actual average values. under Bangladesh climates. The former investigated the perfor-
In such a context, photovoltaic panels would be the best solution mance of the hybrid system under Martin Island climatic condi-
for both population and government. In order to do so, the ministry tions whereas the latter has considered a small village in
of energy and mines has planned to install several solar photo- Comilla. Lal and Raturi [21] have carried out an economic assess-
voltaic projects with a total capacity of 800 MW by 2020 as a part ment of PV–Wind–Diesel hybrid power system for a remote loca-
of the program highlighted above. Moreover, other projects with tion on the island of Vanua Levu.
an annual capacity of 200 MW are planned between 2021 and In Algeria there is also an increasing interest on the develop-
2030 [8]. At this year, the electricity from PV should be competitive ment and investigation of hybrid photovoltaic systems, particu-
to the state-of-the-art power generation options. Recent studies larly after the introduction of the renewable energy program in
have indicated that about a half in the cost reduction can be 2011. Khelif et al. [22] have proposed the combination of PV panels
achieved though scaling up while the other half is the concern of with an existed diesel generator under operation in AFRA (south-
R&D activities [9]. ern Algeria). The authors have developed a mathematical program
To this end, most recent R&D activities worldwide are focusing to predict the hourly performance of the proposed hybrid plant
on the combination of solar photovoltaic with other sources of including voltage, current, fuel consumption, battery state of
energy as it is the only alternative to overcome the issue of higher charge and electricity production. The model is also capable to per-
electricity cost up to now. Many countries are now showing an form an economic assessment to evaluate the profitability of the
increasing interest in the development of hybrid solar PV power power system. They have concluded that the profitability of the
systems. Emerging Markets such as China, India, Indonesia, proposed hybrid system is strongly related to fossil fuel cost and
Tunisia, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia are excellent examples. For beyond a 0.34 €/l of fuel the project is cost-effective. Rezzouk and
China, Li et al. [12] have investigated the feasibility of a hybrid Mellit [23] have interested in the feasibility of powering a research
PV–Wind with storage system to electrify a household in the unit (UDES) located in the north of Algeria with a hybrid PV–
region of Urumqi. When compared with only PV and only Wind Diesel–battery system. HOMER program has been applied and var-
power plants, the proposed configuration has shown a reduction ious configurations as a function of PV penetration including a
in the total net present cost by about 9% and 11% respectively. stand-alone diesel generator and stand-alone PV system were con-
Rehman et al. [13] have interested on the feasibility of a modifying sidered. The authors have found that a hybrid power plant with
a diesel generator into hybrid PV–wind–diesel plant in Rafha, Saudi 25% electricity production from PV panels is the optimum configu-
Arabia. They have found that at a diesel price of 0.6 $/L the hybrid ration that ensures high stability with the lowest electricity cost.
system become cost competitive. With regard to the efficiency and Himri et al. [24] have proposed the combination of an existing die-
system reliability, Daud and Ismail [14] have designed and ana- sel generator with wind turbine to feed a remote region in the
lyzed a PV–wind–diesel hybrid system for a family house in southern of Algeria. They have used HOMER program to evaluate
Palestine. Taking into account the actual energy resources map in the energy production, life-cycle costs and greenhouse gas emis-
Tunisia, Colantoni et al. [15] have developed a mathematical pro- sions reduction of the proposed Wind–Diesel power system. The
gram to find the optimum dimension of hybrid PV–Wind power simulation has shown that the hybrid system becomes feasible at
system. The authors have highlighted the potential of hybrid fossil a wind speed of 5.48 m/s with a fossil fuel price of 0.162 $/L or
renewable power plants to reduce fossil fuels import in Tunisia. more. Aissou et al. [25] have experimentally and numerically stud-
Celik [16] have introduced a novel sizing methodology for hybrid ied the performance of small scale PV–Wind power system under
Wind–PV system based on the monthly variation in the required coastal climate in Bejaia, Algeria. The hybrid plant consists of six
size of the renewable energy converters. Kumar and Manoharan photovoltaic panels of 175 W each connected in parallel, 1 kW
[17] have dealt with the feasibility of implanting hybrid PV– wind turbine, batteries, inverter, and sensors for measurements.
Diesel plant in Tamil Nadu, India. The economic analysis based The hybrid plant control and power management have been eval-
on the net present cost, fuel consumption and renewable electric- uated. The design and modeling of the components have been car-
ity fraction have indicated that the interior climatic zone is the ried out using Matlab/Simulink while the power control strategy is
 F. Baghdadi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 105 (2015) 471–479 473

model developed using Matlab software. In the next section the

considered hybrid system is described. The modeling and technical
specifications of each component are detailed in Section 3.
Section 4 illustrates site data while Section 5 concerned with the
optimization of the hybrid system. The developed model for energy
management is highlighted in Section 6 and the results of the pre-
sent analysis are discussed in Section 7.

2. The proposed hybrid system

The proposed hybrid plant consists of a photovoltaic panels,

Wind turbine, diesel generator, battery bank for storage, and
inverters. Fig. 1 illustrates the design of the hybrid system. The
inverter converts the electricity into either a DC or AC current
depending on the direction of power. The battery requires a DC
Fig. 1. Schematic block of the proposed hybrid system.
current to charge while the load requires an AC current. The output
of the PV panels and wind generator is DC whereas the output of
the diesel generator is AC. That is why an inverter has been
Table 1 included for optimum power control and conversion.
Technical specifications of wind turbine Proven 15. In the operation strategy solar PV and Wind Turbine are com-
bined together to cover the primary load and any excess in the
Technical data Value Unit
electricity will be stored in the battery. In the case when renew-
Nominal power 15 kW
ables (PV and Wind) are not enough to meet the demand, the bat-
Nominal wind speed 12 m/s
Minimum wind speed 2.5 m/s tery is used to supply the shortage. When there is insufficient
Maximum wind speed 70 m/s energy from either the battery or PV–Wind system, the diesel gen-
Weight of rotor 1200 kg erator will automatically start to bring back the complement and
Rotor diameter 9 m to recharge the battery through a bidirectional inverter.
Height from the ground 25 m
Nominal voltage 300 V
The operation strategy proposed in this study is aimed at:
Lifetime 25 Years
– Minimizing fossil fuel consumption.
– Maximizing renewable energies utilization (solar PV and Wind).
implanted though LabVIEW software. The authors have experi-
– Minimize the storage capacity of the battery.
mentally demonstrated the potential of the proposed hybrid sys-
– Reducing the operation duration of the diesel generator and
tem as well as its management control strategy.
therefore enhances its reliability, reduces O&M costs and GHG
The integration of photovoltaic with both wind power and fossil
emissions.
fuels has been also the subject of many published papers. In
Algeria, the combination of various sources of energy (renewable
3. Design specifications and modeling of the hybrid system
and fossil) can offer a significant cost reduction of power genera-
tion, provides continuous and stable power, reduces O&M costs
3.1. Wind turbine
and saving fossil fuels for future generations. To highlight this fact,
Zeraïa et al. [26] have analyzed numerous hybrid configurations of
The wind turbine Proven 15 has been selected in this study.
PV–Wind–Diesel with storage to determine the optimum concept
Rated power of the turbine is 15 kW at wind speed 12 m/s. In
for Algerian remote regions. The performance prediction of the
Table 1, it is highlighted the design specifications of this compo-
selected configurations have been carried out under six different
nent. Minimum, maximum wind speed for operating the wind tur-
climates, i.e., Algiers, Djelfa, Ghardaïa, Adrar, Tindouf and
bine, its lifetime and other parameters are given.
Tamanrasset. The simulation using HOMER program has pointed
The power curve in Fig. 2 describes the amount of power pro-
out that hybrid PV–Diesel power system is the most suitable. In
duced by the turbine as function of wind speed at hub height.
order to determine the optimum size of stand-alone hybrid PV–
The power output of the wind turbine is strongly related to wind
Wind–Diesel–Batteryplant, Saheb-Koussa et al. [27] have devel-
speed. Various models have been applied calculate the energy pro-
oped a model in Matlab/Simulink. Various locations in Algeria with
duced by the wind turbine [28,29]. The quadratic model, illustrated
different climates have been selected, i.e., Bouzareah (coastal),
in Eq. (1) is selected in this paper.
Batna and El Oued (high plateaus), Ghardaia, Adrar and
8
Tamanrasset (hot dry climates). The authors have found that the > V 2v V 2d
< Pn  V 2n V 2d
> Vd < Vv < Vn
optimum configuration in each site is strongly related to their
PW ðV v Þ ¼ Pn Vn 6 Vv < Vc ð1Þ
renewable resources including solar radiation intensity and wind >
>
:
potential. 0 V v 6 V d et V v P V c
In this paper we have investigated the feasibility of hybrid PV–
where Pw is the power produced by the wind turbine, Pn is the nom-
Wind–Diesel–Battery power system under the southern Algerian
inal power, Vd is the cut-in wind speed, Vn is the rated wind speed
climate whereby the performances of each part have been ana-
and Vc is the cut-off wind speed.
lyzed. To do so, weather data including ambient temperature, solar
The adjustment of the wind profile for height is taken into
radiation intensity and wind speed have been used and a predeter-
account by using the power law which is a useful tool to model
mined load profile over a week was applied for testing. After the
the vertical profile of wind speed. The model which is illustrated
optimization of the size of components using HOMER program,
in Eq. (2) is used for wind speed estimation [30].
the energy management of the power plant has been carried out
 /
to maximize renewable energies utilization and minimize fossil H
VðHÞ ¼ VðHm Þ ð2Þ
fuel consumption. This latter step has been achieved though a Hm
474 F. Baghdadi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 105 (2015) 471–479

16 With b is a coefficient accounting the PV module efficiency as func-

tion of temperature, gref is the efficiency reference of PV generator,
TC is the Cell temperature, gdc/ac is the converter efficiency equals to
12 0.95 and Pf is the full module factor equals to 0.9.
Power Output (kW)

The cell temperature can be calculated by:

 
8 NOCT  20
T C ¼ T amb þ Es ð6Þ
800

4
With Tamb is ambient temperature, Es is the global solar irradiation
at the selected site, NOCT is the operation temperature of PV cell
under preselected conditions (global radiation of 800 W/m2, ambi-
0 ent temperature equals to 20 °C et mass air AM supposed to be
0 5 10 15 20 equals to 1).
Wind Speed (m/s) Eq. (7) provides the total electric power produced by both PV
and Wind generators.
Fig. 2. Power curve of the wind turbine given by the manufacturer.
Ptot ðtÞ ¼ Ppv s ðtÞ þ PWs ðtÞ ð7Þ
where V(H) is the wind speed measured at the hub height Hm, V(Hm)
is the wind speed measured at the reference height Hm and a is the With Ppvs(t) and PWs(t) are the electricity produced by PV and wind
wind speed power law coefficient. generators respectively after passing though the inverter.

3.2. Photovoltaic modules 3.3. Battery bank

The PV module is made up of photovoltaic cells and it is used to The battery bank is used to serve the required load. If the bat-
convert solar radiation into electricity. The PV module (Type: KD tery bank is less than minimum level, the diesel generator starts
180 GX-LP) from KYOCERA has been chosen in the study. The basic supplying the demand. The capital cost of batteries is $3680 while
information of the selected PV module is summarized in Table 2. the annual O&M cost is 180 $/kW h [32]. Table 3 provides more
The energy output of the PV generator is calculated based on details about the technical specification of the battery bank.
the following equation: The following parameters are use for characterizing the battery:
Pgen ¼ ggen  Ac  Es ð3Þ
 Nominal capacity Batman.
Ac is the PV panels receiving area, ggen is the efficiency of PV gener-  The state of charge SOC.
ator and Es is the global solar irradiation.
The efficiency of the PV generator is a function of ambient con- SOCðtÞ ¼ C bat ðtÞ=C bat max ðtÞ
ð8Þ
ditions and PV cell proprieties [31]: ð0 6 SOC 6 1Þ
ggen ¼ gmod  gdc=ac  P f  Nmod ð4Þ With Cbat is the capacity of the battery at time (t), Cbat max is the
maximum capacity of the battery. If SOC = 1, the battery is full; If
In Eq. (4) gmod is the efficiency of the PV module, gdc/ac is the SOC = 0, the battery is empty.
electrical efficiency of the DC/AC inverter, Pf is the full module fac- The Charge and discharge processes can be evaluated by Eqs. (9)
tor and Nmod is the number of PV modules. and (10) respectively.
The efficiency of the photovoltaic module can be estimated by
the following equation: C bat ðtÞ ¼ C bat ðt  1Þ þ ððPtot ðtÞ  Pcha ðtÞÞ þ Pge ðtÞÞgac=dc gcha Dt ð9Þ

gmod ¼ gref f1  bðT C  T ref Þg ð5Þ

C bat ðtÞ ¼ C bat ðt  1Þ þ ðPtot ðtÞ  Pcha ðtÞÞDt=gdc=ac gdecha ð10Þ

where Pcha is the power demand, Pge is the power produced by the
diesel generator, gdecha is the efficiency of battery discharging.
Table 2 To protect the battery from overcharge and deep discharge the
Technical data of the PV module.
accumulator is used to control the state of charge according to the
Technical data Value Unit following equation:
Performance under ISO conditions C bat min ðtÞ 6 C bat ðtÞ 6 C bat max ðtÞ ð11Þ
Maximum power 180 W
Maximum voltage 23.6 V The minimum capacity (Cbat min) of the battery is given by:
Maximum current 7.63 A
Open circuit voltage (Voc) 29.5 V C bat min ¼ DOD  C bat n ð12Þ
Shortage current (Isc) 8.35 A
Maximum voltage of the system 600 V With DOD is the deep of discharge; it is supposed to be equal to 0.5.
Temperature coefficient for Voc 1.06  101 V/°C
Temperature coefficient for Isc 5.01  103 A/°C Table 3
Design features of the battery.
Performance under 800 W/m2 irradiance
Maximum power 127 W Technical data Value Unit
Maximum voltage 20.8 V Voltage 48 V
Maximum current 6.1 A Discharge current 192 A
Open circuit voltage (Voc) 26.5 V Power 9.2 kW
Shortage current (Isc) 6.8 A Nominal capacity 1923 Ah
PV module features Minimum allowable load 50 %
Number of cell per module 48 cell Battery cost 3680 $
Dimension (length  width  thickness) 1341  990  36 mm O&M costs 180 $/kW h
Weight 16.5 kg Lifetime 10 Years
 F. Baghdadi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 105 (2015) 471–479 475

3.4. Diesel generator Table 5

Fuel consumption as function of engine output.

The diesel generator 404C-22G of PERKINS manufacturer has Output power (kW) Fuel consumption (L/h)
been selected in this analysis. Its maximum capacity is about 18.500 5.400
18.5 kW. The technical data of this generator are given in Table 4. 13.875 4.000
A linear model has been assumed to predict the performance of 9.250 2.900
the diesel generator at partial load. Table 5 illustrates the variation 4.625 2.270

of fuel consumption as function of power output from the selected

generator.
4
x 10
1.3
1.25
3.5. Converter 1.2
1.15
Any system that contains both AC and DC elements requires a

Load (W)
1.1
converter. In the proposed hybrid system the converter is applied
1.05
for two purposes, i.e., to convert AC power from diesel generator
1
to DC power used to charge the batteries. In this case it is called
0.95
converter. It can also work as an inverter (DC–AC) to serve AC
0.9
loads.
0.85
A power converter is required for a hybrid wind/PV/battery
0.8
power system to maintain the flow of energy between DC and AC 0 5 10 15 20
components. Hours

Fig. 3. Energy demand during a typical day.

4. Site and weather data description

1200
Hourly solar irradiation [Wh/m2]

4.1. Site features and load profile

1000

In this analysis we have considered the site of Adrar prove- 800

nance, southern Algeria (Latitude: 27.82°N, Longitude: 0.18°W,
600
Altitude: 263.8 m). The climate of the site is tropical of the hot zone
where the air is dry. Its features are significant differences between 400
day and night time temperatures and a little uneven rainfall. The
winter is short and cold and summer is long and hot. In Adrar there 200

are important amount of fossil fuels recently discovered, moreover, 0

a larger refinery for diesel fuel and many other hydrocarbons is 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

now underway. The renewable potential including solar energy Time [h]
and wind are really abundant. These factors make the hybrid
Fig. 4. Global radiation measured in Adrar during a period of one year.
fossil-renewable power system very attractive in this region.
The daily typical load profile of the site village is highlighted in
Fig. 3. It has been observed maximum loads of 125–130 kW
50
between 8 and 10 p.m. because the site considered is inhabited
Ambient Temperature [°C]

area where most people are at home in this period. However, in 40

the early morning most people are out of the homes and this sig- 30
nificantly reducing electricity demand.
20

10
4.2. Solar radiation
0

The solar radiation data has been taken from a meteorological -10
station of Adrar. The global solar irradiance recorded during a year 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

(hour per hour) is shown in Fig. 4. It can be seen that the solar radi- Time (hours)
ation is very important in this location. Higher radiation intensity
Fig. 5. Ambient temperature recorded in Adrar during a year.
has been observed from March to September while smaller
amounts are available from October to February.
4.3. Ambient temperature

Table 4 The ambient temperature has a strong effect on the perfor-

Main design data of the diesel generator. mance of PV panels and the density of air. Therefore, it is of a par-
Technical data Value Unit ticular interest to have a measured data. The recorded ambient
temperature during a year is illustrated in Fig. 5. It has been
Constructor PERKINS
Type 404C-22G observed higher values during summer days; an average values
Rotation speed 1500 rot/min higher than 40 °C have been recorded from June to August while
Net power 18.5 kW from October to February the average ambient temperatures were
Cooling fluid Water
around 23 °C. It is worthy to note that the annual average ambient
Electric current (DC) 12 V
temperature is about 36 °C.
476 F. Baghdadi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 105 (2015) 471–479

9 components, the most cost effective configuration of the hybrid

8 renewable energy system can be obtained using HOMER.
7
wind speed (m/s)

6 5.2. Optimizing the components size

5
In this study we have applied HOMER software for optimizing
4
the hybrid PV–Wind–Diesel–Battery system. Numerous system
3 configurations have been simulated to find the optimum one. To
2 do so, the software requires the mean wind speed, global solar
1 radiation and energy demand details, components technical speci-
0 fications. All these data have been described in details in the previ-
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 ous sections. Comparisons of various designs of the hybrid systems
regarding the technical and economic features of system compo-
Fig. 6. Wind speed at the selected location during a year.
nents have been carried out to find the configuration has offer
the lowest energy cost. The optimization process is mainly based
4.4. Wind speed on the net present cost. Note that the NPC is the total cost of instal-
ling and operating the hybrid system over its lifetime. This includes
The wind speed data over a period of one year at a height of the initial cost, component replacements, operations and mainte-
10 m above ground level is shown in Fig. 6. At the selected site nance and fuel.
the wind speed ranges from 2 m/s to 9 m/s, and the annual average
value is higher than 6 m/s. Higher average values have been 6. Energy management & operation strategy
recorded from September to March.
The hybrid system is optimized to meet a typical energy
demand. In order to maximize the renewable energy use and fuel
5. Optimization of the hybrid power system saving, a mathematical model has been developed using
Matlab/simulink. Matlab/simulink software is the most popular
5.1. About HOMER software scientific computing system and array programming language,
enables developers to perform complex mathematical computa-
HOMER is stand for Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric tions from relatively simple instructions.
Renewable. This software has been developed by the National The flowchart of the model is illustrated in Fig. 7. The input data
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 1993. It is one of the most for the model are the hourly global irradiation, wind speed, ambi-
widely useful tools in the simulation, optimization and sensibility ent temperature, load profile and the technical data of the opti-
analysis of renewable electricity systems in both off-grid and mum configuration. Note that the optimum hybrid system is
grid-connected concepts. HOMER offers a large number of compo- obtained by HOMER software. For each hour the model calculates
nents including wind turbines, PV panels, diesel generator, batter- the total available renewable electricity and then compares to
ies, fuel cells, etc. For any hybrid power system the software is able the energy demand. When renewable electricity is sufficient to
to calculate the net present cost (NPC), renewable electricity frac- meet customers need, any excess in the electricity will be stored
tion, greenhouse gases emissions and fuel consumption. This soft- in the battery. This is the first preferred operation strategy. The
ware simulates various hybrid renewable energy power systems second operation strategy is applied when renewable electricity
and optimizes the size of their components on the basis of the is not enough to meet the load profile. In this case the model
NPC. Taking into account the load profile, renewable energy poten- checks if the battery is able to supply the shortage. If this opportu-
tial (solar, wind. . .), ambient conditions and the technical data of nity is not achievable, the diesel generator is used to supply the

Fig. 7. Flowchart of the developed model for optimum energy management.

 F. Baghdadi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 105 (2015) 471–479 477

curve of renewable electricity is similar to the curve of the solar

radiation. When the wind speed is below 7 m/s the fraction of
energy from wind turbine is relatively lower. During the period
from 130 h to 140 h (see Fig. 9a), the wind speed is higher than
7 m/s. This increase the energy produced by renewable system to
reach 18 kW h. It is noticeable (from Figs. 8 and 9b) that energy
consumption is higher than renewable electricity at night while
it is lower during daylight when solar radiation intensity is impor-
tant. The diesel generator works just few hours during night to
meet the demand. The peak energy demand of about 13 kW h is
occurred at night.
The more in-depth analysis has shown the following:

– At daylight (from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) the first operation strategy

is applied since renewable system offers about 15 kW. During
Fig. 8. The performance of the hybrid configuration during a period of one week.
this time the energy consumption is lower that the renewable
electricity, the remaining amount is stored in the battery.
– From sunset to 8 p.m. the second operation strategy is more
9
preferred: during this time renewable electricity is not suffi-
8 cient to meet the increased load and therefore the battery is
7 used to supply the shortage.
wind speed (m/s)

6 – From 8 p.m. to sunrise: due to the increased demand the battery

is discharging until it reaches its minimum. On the other hand,
5
renewable is not enough to feed costumer due to the absence of
4
solar rays. To overcome this issue the third operation strategy is
3 applied; the generator is used to supply the costumers and to
2 recharge the battery.
1
For better understanding the operation of the proposed hybrid
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 system, the annual performance has been investigated. The results
Time (h) are illustrated in Fig. 10. It can be seen that during sunny periods
(a) Wind speed the renewable system (dashed curve) provides more energy than
the customer need, while at night the increased demand is usually
satisfied using the diesel generator. The annual sensitivity analysis
has also indicated that wind power at Adrar is higher in autumn
Hourly solar irradiation [Wh/m2]

1000
and winter (from 1 h to 3000 h and from 7000 to 8700 respec-
800 tively). During daylight, even though solar radiation is higher in
summer we have observed higher renewable electricity during
600 winter and autumn (around 27 kW h) compared to summer
(c)
(around 24 kW h). This increase is due to the higher wind speed
400 during these seasons.
An important finding is that the decrease in solar electricity
200
during winter and autumn periods is compensated by wind power
which provides stable operation of the hybrid PV–Wind–Diesel–B
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 attery system. This benefit is of a particular interest and makes
Time [h] the region of Adrar very promising to hybrid PV–Wind systems.
(b) Solar radiation
Fig. 9. Wind speed and solar radiation data over a week.

complement and to recharge the battery. This is the third operation

strategy and it is the last solution since the proposed energy man-
agement is aimed to minimize the fossil fuel consumption and
therefore reducing greenhouse gases emissions.

7. Discussion of the results

In the first step, the hybrid system has been analyzed during a
period of one week. Fig. 8 shows the electricity production by the
renewable system (PV + Wind) and diesel generator as well as
energy demand. In Fig. 9 it is highlighted the solar radiation inten-
sity and wind speed for better understanding the operation and
management of the hybrid power plant.
It has been observed that renewable energy fraction is strongly
related to solar radiation intensity, i.e., during sunny periods the Fig. 10. Annual performance of the hybrid system.
478 F. Baghdadi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 105 (2015) 471–479

Energie éolienne Table 6

10000 Energie PV Average annual electricity production by each component.
Energie totale
Energie consommée
Site: Adrar Components Electric power (kW/year) Fraction* (%)
Energie excédante
8000 Energie du groupe Wind 46,922 43.69
PV panels 27,618 25.71
Energie (KWh)

Diesel 32,868 30.60

6000 Total 107,408 100
*
Fraction = power produced from each components/the total energy produced.
4000

The battery bank is also analyzed with awareness. In Fig. 12 it is

2000 represented the state of charge of the battery. Fig. 12a illustrates
the battery load during year. The state of charge of the battery
0
though a week is given in Fig. 12b. It have been observed that
the charge–discharge cycle is relatively minor and this increase
t
Ju i n

D ec
No v
F év

S ep
i
A vr
J an

Ju i l

O ct
A oû
Ma
Ma

the lifetime of the battery.

Fig. 11. Monthly energy production by each part of the hybrid system vs. energy
consumption.
8. Conclusion

A hybrid renewables-fossil power system has been investigated

100
in this study whereby three types of energy are combined (solar
State of charge of battery bank (%)

90 photovoltaic, wind power and diesel fuel). A detailed analysis

including hybrid system modeling, energy management and sensi-
80 tivity study during short (week) and long (year) periods has been
carried out. The hybrid configuration has been well optimized to
70
ensure higher fuel saving while maximizing renewable electricty
60
use is the target. The energy management introduced in this study
was very efficient and allows rational energy balance between the
50 three subsystems. It has been obtained that, under Adrar climate,
the hybrid PV–Wind–Diesel–battery concept is capable to meet
40 the customers need in remote regions. A fraction of about 43% of
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Time (h)
the total electricity demand has been supplied by the wind turbine
while the PV panels provides around 26%. This is due to the higher
(a) state of charge of battery during a year
solar radiation intensity and the wind speed though a year.
100 Another important finding of the present study is that the pro-
posed configuration can reduce the fossil fuel consumption by
State of charge of battery bank (%)

90 about 70% compared with only diesel generator that are usually
installed to supply a remote regions in the southern of Algeria.
80 It is noteworthy that the actual diesel generators in operation
are suffering from lower efficiency associated with serious fuel
70
shortage which significantly increase the cost of electricity.
Moreover, it slowdown the economic development of the remote
60
regions and undoubtedly raise the social problems. In this context,
hybrid renewables-fossil power plants might become the technol-
50
ogy of choice in the coming decades as the shortage and depletion
in fossil fuels together with the hike in their prices take a hold. If
40
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 the Algerian renewable energy program is well implemented, such
Time (h) a hybrid system will be a lever for economic and social develop-
(b) state of charge of battery during a week ment, particularly through the establishment of wealth and
job-creating industries.
Fig. 12. Battery state of charge.

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