Smart Energy Systems for coherent 100% renewable energy and transport solutions

Hybrid energy systems are being utilized for supplying electrical energy in urban, rural and remote areas to overcome the intermittence of solar and wind resources. A hybrid renewable energy system incorporates two or more electricity generation options based on renewable energy or fossil fuel unit. The techno-economic analysis of the hybrid system is essential for the efficient utilization of renewable energy resources. Due to multiple generation systems, hybrid system analysis, is quite complex and requires to be analyzed thoroughly. This requires software tools for the design, analysis, optimization, and economic viability of the systems. In this paper, 19 softwares with their main features and current status are presented. The softwares studied are HOMER, Hybrid2, RETScreen, iHOGA, INSEL, TRNSYS, iGRHYSO, HYBRIDS, RAPSIM, SOMES, SOLSTOR, HySim, HybSim, IPSYS, HySys, Dymola/Modelica, ARES, SOLSIM, and HYBRID DESIGNER. The research work related to hybrid systems carried out using these softwares at different locations worldwide is also reviewed. The main objective of the paper is to provide the current status of these softwares to provide basic insight for a researcher to identify and utilize suitable tool for research and development studies of hybrid systems. The capabilities of different softwares are also highlighted. The limitations, availability and areas of further research have also been identified.

Review of software tools for hybrid renewable energy systems

Uneconomical extension of the grid has led to generation of electric power at the end user facility and has been proved to be cost effective and to an extent efficient. With augmented significance on eco-friendly technologies the use of renewable energy sources such as micro-hydro, wind, solar, biomass and biogas is being explored. This paper presents an extensive review on various issues related to Integrated Renewable Energy System (IRES) based power generation. Issues related to integration configurations, storage options, sizing methodologies and system control for energy flow management are discussed in detail. For stand-alone applications integration of renewable energy sources, performed through DC coupled, AC coupled or hybrid DC–AC coupled configurations, are studied in detail. Based on the requirement of storage duration in isolated areas, storage technology options can be selected for integrated systems. Uncertainties involved in designing an effective IRES based power generation system for isolated areas is accounted due to highly dynamic nature of availability of sources and the demand at site. Different methodologies adopted and reported in literature for sizing of the system components are presented. Distributed control, centralized and hybrid control schemes for energy flow management in IRES have also been discussed.

A review on Integrated Renewable Energy System based power generation for stand-alone applications: Configurations, storage options, sizing methodologies and control

ConspectusElectrocatalytic CO2 conversion at near ambient temperatures and pressures offers a potential means of converting waste greenhouse gases into fuels or commodity chemicals (e.g., CO, formic acid, methanol, ethylene, alkanes, and alcohols). This process is particularly compelling when driven by excess renewable electricity because the consequent production of solar fuels would lead to a closing of the carbon cycle. However, such a technology is not currently commercially available. While CO2 electrolysis in H-cells is widely used for screening electrocatalysts, these experiments generally do not effectively report on how CO2 electrocatalysts behave in flow reactors that are more relevant to a scalable CO2 electrolyzer system. Flow reactors also offer more control over reagent delivery, which includes enabling the use of a gaseous CO2 feed to the cathode of the cell. This setup provides a platform for generating much higher current densities (J) by reducing the mass transport issues inherent to the...

Electrolytic CO2 Reduction in a Flow Cell.

Renewable energy, such as hydro power, photovoltaics and wind turbines, has become the most widely applied solutions for addressing issues associated with oil depletion, increasing energy demand and anthropogenic global warming. Solar and wind energy are strongly dependent on weather resources with intermittent and fluctuating features. To filter these variabilities, battery energy storage systems have been broadly accepted as one of the potential solutions, with advantages such as fast response capability, sustained power delivery, and geographical independence. During the implementation of battery energy storage systems, one of the most crucial issues is to optimally determine the size of the battery for balancing the trade-off between the technical improvements brought by the battery and the additional overall cost. Numerous studies have been performed to optimise battery sizing for different renewable energy systems using a range of criteria and methods. This paper provides a comprehensive review of battery sizing criteria, methods and its applications in various renewable energy systems. The applications for storage systems have been categorised based on the specific renewable energy system that the battery storage will be a part. This is in contrast to previous studies where the battery sizing approaches were either arranged as an optimised component in renewable systems or only accounted for one category of renewable system. By taking this approach, it becomes clear that the critical metrics for battery sizing, and by extension the most suitable method for determining battery size, are determined by the type of renewable energy system application, as well as its size. This has important implications for the design process as the renewable energy system application will drive the battery energy storage system sizing methodology chosen.

Battery energy storage system size determination in renewable energy systems: A review

Energy deficiency is one of the key enigmas impacting the livelihood of millions of poverty stricken people throughout the world. It is quite evident that electrification of rural areas can improve the standard of education, health conditions, living and empowering the youth of the nearby population. Uttarakhand state of India is mainly encompassing southern periphery of Himalayas. Census of India reveals that about 123 numbers of villages and 1966 numbers of village hamlets are still unelectrified in the state. Electrification of these villages/hamlets of remote hills using renewable energy resources in off-grid mode is a feasible option compared to uneconomical grid extension. State has identified small hydro power potential of 1500 MW, mean annual daily solar radiation of 4.5–5.5 kWh/m2 with 300 sunny days in a year, enormous forest foliage, crop residue, animal waste and mean annual wind speed of 5–5.5 m/s in some places of the state. The present study comprises the utilization of single technology based system such as small hydro, biomass, biogas, solar and small wind turbines etc. and also aggregated technology, depending on the availability of the resources in the present locality. A methodological framework has been established to avail the demand and resources assessment of the area. Various barriers and issues are finally discussed, which leads to a greater obstacle, in the path of system implementation. In order to address these barriers and issues, suitable solutions are recommended in the present context.

Renewable energy based off-grid rural electrification in Uttarakhand state of India: Technology options, modelling method, barriers and recommendations

In the recent years, small scale power generation has been recognized as a suitable option for energy access in isolated rural areas due to uneconomical grid extension. A techno-economic feasibility study on the development of an Integrated Renewable Energy System (IRES) is carried out in the paper in order to meet the electrical and cooking energy demands of cluster of village hamlets of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state (India). An attempt has been made to estimate the potential of locally available renewable energy resources and demands of the study area. The selection of small wind turbine model for the site specified is performed among the various models available in market. Further, nine different combinations of renewable energy resources have been investigated by considering economic, technical and social aspect criteria. Finally, a sensitivity analysis has also been carried out in order to determine the most sensitive parameter of the system.

Anurag Chauhan

Papers

A review on Integrated Renewable Energy System based power generation for stand-alone applications: Configurations, storage options, sizing methodologies and control

Renewable energy based off-grid rural electrification in Uttarakhand state of India: Technology options, modelling method, barriers and recommendations

Techno-economic feasibility study on Integrated Renewable Energy System for an isolated community of India

Techno-economic optimization based approach for energy management of a stand-alone integrated renewable energy system for remote areas of India

Discrete harmony search based size optimization of Integrated Renewable Energy System for remote rural areas of Uttarakhand state in India