SIZING AND TECHNOECONOMIC OPTIMIZATION FOR HYBRID SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC WIND POWER-SYSTEMS WITH BATTERY STORAGE

A general methodology is presented for the sizing and optimization of renewable power supply systems, including hybrids such as those with s olar photovoltaic and wind power components, The technical and economi c optimum configurations are found by reference to periods over which the average resource (e.g. wind/solar) is least or the average load de mand is greatest. For stand-alone systems, the annual autonomy is an i mportant further design factor. This is the fraction of time for which the specified load can be met. The optimization seeks the least expen sive system configuration which achieves the required autonomy level. It is the autonomy level which largely determines the size of battery storage capacity required. A system performance simulation procedure, with an hourly time-step, is used to obtain the autonomy levels of pot entially optimum arrangements as the battery size is varied. Illustrat ive examples of the use of the method employ annual and monthly averag ing periods, although any other period may be used, Data refer to the particular location and load pattern for an existing hybrid system, bu t the method is quite generally applicable. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & S ons, Ltd.