Techno-economic analysis of autonomous hybrid photovoltaic-diesel-battery system

Detailed techno-economic analysis and thousands of hourly simulations were executed to design an optimal autonomous hybrid photovoltaic-diesel-battery system to meet the load of an off-grid house, located in a remote Jordanian settlement. The hybrid system with 23% of photovoltaic energy penetration and comprised of 2 kW PV array, diesel generator with a rated power of 4 kW and 2 storage batteries in addition to 2 kW converter was found to be the optimal system and it becomes economically feasible for diesel prices greater than 0.15 $/L. This is in favor of utilizing the hybrid system to supplement the off-grid remote house with electricity, since the current diesel price in Jordan is about 0.238 $/L. Utilizing this system for electricity generation decreased the operating hours of the diesel generators by 19.3% and diesel consumption by 18.5% in comparison with the diesel-only situation. This in turn led to about 18% reduction in emissions of green house gases. Moreover, this investigation has examined the effect of battery storage and photovoltaic penetration on the performance and the cost of generated electricity by the feasible hybrid system. It is believed that the outcome of this investigation will benefit researchers from other developing countries, with similar climatic and economic conditions as Jordan in designing hybrid photovoltaic-diesel-battery systems and further attain sustainable development in rural areas.