Technical and economical bi-objective design of a grid-connected photovoltaic/diesel generator/fuel cell energy system

In the present study, bi-objective optimization of a grid-connected hybrid energy system including photovoltaic (PV) modules, diesel generator and fuel cell (FC) is the main topic. Sizing problem is solved with respect to two objectives: levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and loss of power supply probability (LPSP). In the sizing problem, number of PV modules, diesel generators, FCs, electrolyzers, hydrogen tanks and grid factor are defined as decision variables. Grid factor has been introduced in the sizing problem to optimize amount of electricity which is sold to utility grid. Multi-objective variant of crow search algorithm, a recently developed high performance optimizer, has been applied to solve this complex optimization problem. Impact of different parameters (electricity price, diesel generator fuel cost and storage system cost) has been investigated on Pareto front of the sizing problem (LCOE vs LPSP). Simulation results reveal that when electricity price decreases, LCOE increases and value of grid factor decreases.