On the Reliability and Life Cycle Cost Analyses of Small-scale Standalone Solar Systems in Rural Areas

In this paper, a three-step optimization approach is presented in order to obtain the optimal sizing of Standalone Photovoltaic (SPV) system. The main aim is to weight the cost against the reliability of the system to make a smart design decision. The optimization approach has two objective functions to be u 'nimized. Annual Lost Load (ALL) and Annual Life Cycle Cost (ALCC). The proposed method includes battery lifetime estimation, 'Thiel' is based on the active Depth of Discharge (DOD) of nhcro-cycles on the battery operation. The method has been applied to a remote area in Zambia. The results indicate that the introduced framework is capable of optimizing the system while satispAng the operational and economical imquirements.