HOMER software functions as a tool for modeling and optimization of an energy generation micropower system based on renewable technologies. I n this paper for the first time the monthly real load data have been used in HOMER to design a renewable-based microgrid in grid-connected mode for Kish Island, Iran. The calculations were performed in a way that the designed system could supply the load demand of the studied area with the lowest cost, least pollution, and highest reliability. To overcome the intermittency of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, a combination of these sources in a hybrid system and installation of battery storage systems were considered. The solar radiation and wind speed data required by the software were obtained from the country’s meteorology and NASA website and used in the software. The analysis results of four scenarios, including national grid/diesel generator, national grid/diesel generator/solar cell, national grid/diesel generator/wind turbine, and national grid/diesel generator/solar cell/wind turbine, showed the prices per kWh of $0.483, $0.505, $0.472, $0.537, respectively. In these scenarios, the share of renewable energies was 0%, 8%, 11%, and 26%, respectively. The highest amount of electricity sold to the national grid was 1597095 kWh/y for the fourth scenario which had also the lowest rate of CO 2 emissions by 4128650 kg/y.

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Optimal Planning of On-Grid Hybrid Microgrid for Remote Island Using HOMER Software, Kish in Iran

This article reviews energy planning tools and the extent to which these tools have been utilised to deploy on-grid (especially mini-grids) and off-grid renewable energy (RE) technologies on the African continent. The paper seeks to answer the following questions: what are the planning tools used for renewable energy deployment in Africa, and to what extent have they been used? The most widely used tools for the planning of RE technologies are HOMER and LEAP, though it must be noted that the two have different applications. Other tools identified were network planner, RETScreen, MESSAGE and MARKAL/TIMES. Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa are the countries where electricity planning tools have been used most, according to literature identified. A principal challenge in many of the papers reviewed is the general lack and unreliability of electricity planning data. The review shows that there is not a single tool that could be appropriate for all of the different energy planning issues for RE deployment per se. Rather, the aims of each study and the details required, inter alia, influences the type of tool selected for the particular study.

Decentralised Energy Systems in Africa: Coordination and Integration of Off-Grid and Grid Power Systems—Review of Planning Tools to Identify Renewable Energy Deployment Options for Rural Electrification in Africa

The integration of renewable energy sources to create microgrids is drawing growing interest to address current energy-related challenges around the globe. Nevertheless, microgrids must be analyzed using specialized tools that allow to conduct operation, technical and economic studies. In that regard, this paper presents a case study in which the software HOMER Energy Pro was implemented to design and analyze the performance of a microgrid. Such microgrid comprises a photovoltaic system, a wind system and a diesel plant. The parameters of the energy systems are based on information about local weather conditions available in databases. Finally, this analysis is performed under two conditions: stand-alone and grid-tied.

http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/dyna/v85n207/0012-7353-dyna-85-207-129.pdf

Microgrid analysis using HOMER: a case study

Energy is one of the basic needs of socio-economic development of an area. The conventional method of electricity generation and grid-connected transmission and distribution system is expensive for the remote rural areas of India, resulting in lower per capita energy consumption. Grid connectivity or establishing new power plants using conventional energy sources is more difficult and expensive in the islands. The depletion of conventional energy sources is also another reason to explore alternative energy sources. Regardless of the cost and depletion of conventional energy sources, environmental issues are of greater concern on the islands. The pollution due to conventional energy sources destroys the biodiversity and ecological health of an island. The aim of the present study is to examine the distributed generation system using different renewable energy sources from the available meteorological data of the largest island in the Sundarbans deltaic complex, West Bengal, India, viz. Sagar Island. The vast number of renewable energy sources available in this island have been studied and the possibility of electricity generation is discussed. Moreover, the possible per unit cost is also estimated using levelized cost of energy.

/pdf/feasibility-assessment-of-distributed-generation-systems-in-5dc3yu0rcu.pdf

Feasibility Assessment of Distributed Generation Systems in Sagar Island, West Bengal, India

Rural areas in developing countries have the highest concentrations of unelectrified communities. There is a clear link between electricity consumption and the Human Development Index, as highlighted by the 7th Development Goal of the United Nations. Estimating the energy needs of the previously nonelectrified population is imprecise when designing rural electrification projects. Indeed, daily energy demand and peak power assessments are complex, since these values must be valid over the project’s lifetime, while tight budgets do not allow for the systems to be oversized. In order to assist project promoters, this study proposes a fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model (FMILP) for the design of wind–PV rural electrification systems including uncertainty in the demand requirements. Two different FMILP approaches were developed that maximized the minimum or the average satisfaction of the users. Next, the FMILP approaches were applied to six Latin American communities from three countries. Compared with the deterministic MILP (where the energy and peak power needs are considered as specific values), the FMILP results achieved a better balance between the project cost and the users’ satisfaction regarding the energy and peak power supplied. Regarding the two approaches, maximizing the users’ minimum satisfaction obtained globally better solutions.

/pdf/balancing-cost-and-demand-in-electricity-access-projects-3hag6skb.pdf

Balancing Cost and Demand in Electricity Access Projects: Case Studies in Ecuador, Mexico and Peru

The purpose of this work is to study the optimization of an hybrid system of electricity production (solar-diesel with storage) of Biret (Mauritania) using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) software. Indeed, it shows that the context and behavior of the chosen system is optimal. HOMER is used to present simulations in the most economical way. It is important to note that the application of HOMER (using meteorological data obtained on the site) analyses the profitability or otherwise of the technologies used in Biret and proposes a hybrid system, taking into account the economic aspects of the project. From this perspective, simulations can be carried out to obtain the best configuration of the hybrid system used for electricity production in Biret. These simulations show the economic optimization of an electricity production using a hybrid system. To this end, a pilot installation, based on this concept, was carried out in Biret. It consists of a 61.44 kw solar field and a 40 kW generating set with 2950 Ah storage system. Optimization of the pilot unit was first studied using the solar-diesel system and secondly by operating the diesel coupled to the storage system. This led to the conclusion that a slight increase in sunshine will result in a decrease in the price of Kwh. On the other hand, that any increase in the price of diesel, while maintaining the constant sunshine will lead to an increase in the price of Kwh. This makes it possible to position this paper in terms of optimal management of the hybrid electricity production system, as a first step of popularizing the photovoltaic systems in the countries of Sahel.

	Key words: Homer, hybrid system, optimization, solar radiation.

/pdf/optimization-of-electrical-production-of-a-hybrid-system-3cmyfq5609.pdf

Optimization of electrical production of a hybrid system (solar, diesel and storage) pilot using HOMER in Biret, Southern Coast of Mauritania

The reported work was motivated by the energy needs in the Mauritania region and the utility of the search features of a software system, named HOMER (Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources), for feasibility analysis of a hybrid power generation system (HS) for the Mauritanian northern coast. This study analyzed a sample of the available wind resources to meet the energy needs of these localities, using the HOMER software with the aim to search for the best possible configuration. A configuration was sought through this work which is considered with less intermittence in the system. In addition, given the relationship noted in the study between the influence of the average wind speed and the price of diesel in liters, it was also suggested to highlight configurations that exclude storage or that may decrease the size of the fuel. This, as a supplementary feature, also allowed, for example, to justify the additional cost generated by the insertion of the diesel group. In this context, five (5) values are given for the study of the price sensitivity of the liter of diesel; these values are proposed as follows: 1.05 $/L (current), 1.08, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.5 $/L (Maximum price). In another way, to carry out the sensitivity analysis through simulations that take into account the average wind speed, the values retained (4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 m/s (maximum speed)) to deepen the study of the behavior of configurations by HOMER software. Finally, we must remember the number of kilowatt-hours produced that may seem insignificant to the country's energy production capacity, but these few tens or hundreds of kilowatt-hours can revive all the hope of the localities of the Mauritanian northern coast. In short, we report here some interesting findings as a result of the search carried out of resources using the HOMER system.

	Key words: HOMER software, hybrid system, wind, kilowatt-hours (kWh) price, sensitivity analysis.

/pdf/feasibility-analysis-of-hybrid-electricity-generation-system-5dxwsaotqu.pdf

Feasibility analysis of hybrid electricity generation system by HOMER for Mauritanian northern coast

The main objective of this work is to study, develop and establish an approach through the mathematical model of performance CENERG under the term (MC). This model is used to characterize the parameters of photovoltaic systems in the literature. For this, we have considered the required performance is normally measured in standard test conditions (STC), where an average solar spectrum AM 1.5 is used, sunshine is normalized at 1000 W/m², and the cell temperature is set equal to 25°C. Modeling which is presented based on data provided by the manufacturers of solar cells or panels. The mathematical modeling process is performed with the model (MC) in search of the equations governing the operation of LRAER group photovoltaic panels, to that end, we can determine the parameters of the mathematical model (MC). The work also allows showing accuracies, through the comparison of the simulation results obtained with the actual production data (experimental) to ATERSA 75 W modules of the LRAER USTM.

	Key words: PV generator model (GPV), CENERG mathematical model, characteristics I (V), characteristics P(V).

A. K. Mahmoud

Papers

Optimization of electrical production of a hybrid system (solar, diesel and storage) pilot using HOMER in Biret, Southern Coast of Mauritania

Feasibility analysis of hybrid electricity generation system by HOMER for Mauritanian northern coast

Numerical modeling and determination of parameters characteristic of a photovoltaic module LRAER (FST Nouakchott)