Optimal Design and Techno-economic Analysis of a Hybrid Solar-wind Power Resource: A Case Study at Al Baha University, KSA

Abstract

This study presents a feasibility analysis of supplying the measured load of Al Baha University in Saudi Arabia by renewable resources including solar photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine (WT), and storage banks instead of the current conventional grid. The objective of this paper is to find the optimum system that has the lowest net present cost (NPC) and greenhouse emission CO2. The metrological data and load profile are collected at the desired location. The simulation results show that NPC of a proposed combination of Grid/PV/WT system, at the current grid’s tariff of 0.085$/kWh, is more efficient than other configurations with power load shortage (<0.1%), with more than 30% reduction in CO2 emission, and lower cost of energy (COE). The results also show that the integration of PV and WT sources with the main grid is the best configuration that leads to the minimum COE of 0.0772 $/kWh, 0.075 $/ kWh, and 0.048 $/kWh at the educational building, administration building, and total campuses’ load, respectively. The developed methods conclude that the objective function and simulation results are feasible for the selected loads at Al Baha University. The current analyses can be adopted to install the real renewable energy system at the desired University.