Optimal sizing and location based on economic parameters for an off-grid application of a hybrid system with photovoltaic, battery and diesel technology

Off-grid solar/diesel systems have been widely utilized in remote and rural settings. Some of the main challenges for solar-diesel energies are determining the appropriate capacity and location in rural areas. Therefore, an efficient framework is needed for using off-grid solar/diesel systems. For the optimal sizing and location of off-grid photovoltaic (PV)-diesel schemes in rural areas, a new framework is proposed. In this framework, a geographic information system module is utilized to identify the best location based on technical, economic, reliability, social, and environmental criteria. Then, a hybrid optimization algorithm is utilized to determine the appropriate capacity for continuously meeting of the load via total life cycle cost minimization. A real case study in South Khorasan is considered, in order to illustrate the proposed framework and its effectiveness. The effectiveness of the applied approach is investigated by comparing the outcomes with the results obtained by other heuristic methods. Also, the impacts are investigated of fuel cost variations, initial PV and battery costs, and interest rate on the economics of the hybrid scheme. The simulation results demonstrate that the hybrid algorithm obtains results that are more accurate (by 14.1%) than other applied algorithms, and show that the use of solar energy with a diesel generator, compared to the diesel only system, significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions (by 59.6%) and supply costs (by 22.2%). The results thus demonstrate the benefits of utilizing the proposed framework for the hybrid system. These results are expected to help enhance acceptance and utilization of cleaner production systems. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.