Design of a Hybrid Solar-Wind Power Plant Using Optimization

Karim Mousa
1
, Hamzah AlZubi
2
, Ali Diabat
3

1
Graduate Student, Masdar Institute of Science And Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE (kmousa@masdar.ac.ae)
2
Graduate Student, Masdar Institute of Science And Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE (halzubi@masdar.ac.ae)
3
Assistant Professor, Masdar Institute of Science And Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE (adiabat@masdar.ac.ae)

ABSTRACT
Although solar and wind energy are two of the most viable renewable energy sources, little research has been done on
operating both energy sources alongside one another in order to take advantage of their complementary characters. In this
paper, we develop an optimal design for a hybrid solar-wind energy plant, where the variables that are optimized over
include the number of photovoltaic modules, the wind turbine height, the number of wind turbines, and the turbine rotor
diameter, and the goal is to minimize costs. Simulation studies and sensitivity analysis reveal that the hybrid plant is able to
exploit the complementary nature of the two energy sources, and deliver energy reliably throughout the year.
Keywords: renewable energy, hybrid, wind turbines, solar, standalone


1. INTRODUCTION

Among the wide range of problems facing our world
today, there is global consensus that greenhouse gas
(GHGs) emissions have the largest negative impact on
our environment. GHGs include carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydro
fluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons. These gases help
maintain the temperature of the earth at comfortable
levels for organisms, and a decrease in their levels would
result in a temperature that could be too low for us to
survive. However, because GHGs allow sunlight to enter
the atmosphere, but trap the heat radiated off the earths
surface, an increase in these emissions would result in an
increase of the planets temperature, or global warming,
to levels that could be fatal to living organisms. Many
scientists also believe that the increase in natural
disasters is fueled by climate change, since atmospheric
and oceanic patterns shift as the Earths temperature
increases.

The Kyoto protocol, a part of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, was
negotiated as part of a global effort to reduce GHG
emissions. The protocol establishes legally binding
commitments on all member nations to reduce their
GHG emissions. To allow economies to meet their
emissions restrictions, the protocol introduced three
flexible mechanisms: the Joint Implementation
mechanism allows countries to carry out emissions
reduction projects in other countries to gain emission
credits, the Clean Development mechanism also allows
countries to gain emissions credits by financing
emissions reduction projects in developing countries,
while the third mechanism, Emissions Trading (also
known as carbon trading), provides an incentive for
governments and companies to reduce their emissions.

The financial incentives, along with carbon-emission
limits, are not the only factors pushing governments in
the direction of renewable and clean energy. The scarcity
of fossil fuels and their rapid depletion worldwide has
made it necessary to search for alternative energy
sources that would meet the current levels of demand. In
addition, much of the worlds population lives in remote
or rural areas, which are sparsely populated and
geographically isolated. Due to the low demand, such
regions are not connected to the grid. To develop such
areas, an efficient as well as financially feasible method
needs to be found to provide these areas with electricity.
It has been suggested that renewable energy sources may
be well-suited to this task.

Renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind
energy have been deemed clean, inexhaustible,
unlimited, and environmental friendly [1]. Such
characteristics have attracted the energy sector to use
renewable energy sources on a larger scale [2]. However,
all renewable energy sources have drawbacks. The one
that is common to wind and solar sources is their
dependence on unpredictable factors such as weather and
climatic conditions. Fortunately, due to both sources
complementary nature, some of these problems can be
addressed by overcoming the weaknesses of one with the
strengths of the other [2]. This brings us to the hybrid
solar-wind power plant concept.

A system that brings together two sources of energy is
called a hybrid system. The concept of having hybrid
power stations is not new, but has gained popularity in
recent years [1]. Hybrid energy stations have proven to
be advantageous for decreasing the depletion rate of
fossil fuels, as well as supplying energy to remote rural
areas [3], without harming the environment.
Thus, a solar-wind power system that takes advantage of
wind and solar energys complementary characteristics
would seem to be a viable idea. However, the difficulty
brought about by combining two different energy
sources makes the hybrid system more difficult to
analyze. For this reason, there is a rich literature
dedicated to modeling and designing hybrid energy
sources such as wind/solar power plants.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Yang et al. [2] studied hybrid wind/solar systems using
battery banks and developed an optimal model for
designing such systems. The stand-alone system was
designed to power a telecommunication station along the
coast of China. The slope angle of the photovoltaic (PV)
array was studied to find the optimal power-producing
angle, as well as the optimal values of other variables
such as the number of wind turbines and battery
capacity. The annualized cost of the system was
minimized while meeting the specified loss of power
supply probability (LPSP). The model was solved using
a genetic algorithm, and good complementarity between
the two energy sources was reported. Ekren et al. [4]
studied an optimal sizing procedure for a similar system
in Turkey.

Ahmed et al. [5] presented a hybrid system model that
included fuel cell generation along with wind and solar
power. The fuel cell system was used as a backup
resource, where as the main energy sources were the
solar and wind systems. Results demonstrate that the
system is reliable and can supply high-quality power to
the load, even in the absence of wind and sun. Onar et al.
[6] also designed fuel cell systems hybridized with solar
and wind energy which are well-suited to grid-
independent applications.

Yang et al. [7] used a genetic algorithm to develop an
optimal sizing method for a hybrid wind/solar system
that optimizes its configurations with the use of battery
banks. The optimal sizing method was then used to
calculate optimal system configurations that achieve a
given loss of power supply probability (LPSP) while at
the same time minimizing the annualized cost of the
system (ACS).

The feasibility of meeting the energy demand of a
seawater greenhouse in Oman using a hybrid wind/solar
energy system was assessed by Mahmoudi et al. [8] by
analyzing hourly wind speed and solar radiation
measurements.

Elhadidy and Shaahid [9] assessed the feasibility of
providing power to and meeting the load requirements of
a typical commercial building using a hybrid solar-wind
energy system; different combinations of wind energy
systems, photovoltaic panels with battery storage, and a
diesel backup energy system were investigated.

The feasibility of a grid-independent hybrid wind/solar
system for a particular region of Australia was studied by
Shakya et al. [10]; this design featured a compressed
hydrogen gas storage system.

Tina et al. [11] assessed the long-term performance of a
hybrid wind/solar power system for both standalone and
grid-dependent applications by using a probabilistic
approach to model the uncertain nature of the load and
resources.

Dihrab and Sopian [1] proposed a hybrid PV/wind
system that would be used for grid-connected
applications as a power source in three cities in Iraq. A
simulation of the model was carried out on MATLAB,
where the input parameters were determined by
meteorological data from the three locations, as well as
the sizes of the wind turbines and the PV arrays. Their
results showed that their hybrid system would provide
sufficient energy for villages in desert or rural areas.

Kershman et al. [12] studied the design of a sea water
reverse osmosis desalination plant powered by a hybrid
wind/solar system to be located on Libya's coast; the
plant will be used to supply a village with potable water.

Celik [13] proposed a novel method of sizing hybrid
wind/solar energy systems using battery storage that
includes as design parameters both the fraction of time
that the system can satisfy the load and the cost of the
system.

Bakos and Tsagas [14] analyzed the technical and
economic feasibility of using a grid-connected hybrid
wind/solar system to meet the energy demands of a
typical residence in Xanthi, a city in Greece, through
electrical and thermal energy production.

Deshmukh and Deshmukh [15] discuss methods of
modeling and designing hybrid renewable energy
systems, and also issues involved in increasing the
penetration of such systems.

Borowy and Salameh [16] develop a graphical
construction technique for determining the optimal sizes
of the battery bank and the PV array in a hybrid
wind/solar system.Only paired combinations of the three
subsystems were considered in the optimization process.

Yang et al. [17,18] develop simulation models for a
hybrid wind/solar system which are used to calculate
optimized combinations of PV module, wind turbine,
and battery bank parameters for a given loss of power
supply probability (LPSP). Variables such as wind
turbine height and PV angle are not included in the
study.

In this paper, we study the design of a hybrid stand-alone
solar-wind power generation system that could be used
for various applications such as supplying power to rural
areas. Variables considered in the design include the
number of PV modules, the wind turbine height, the
number of wind turbines, and the rotor diameter of the
turbines. These variables are used to find the optimal
design of a hybrid power generation system, with the
objective of maximizing power, while minimizing cost.

3. THE MODEL

2.1 Notation: Parameters and Values

Table 1 summarizes the notation used in our model.
Values for parameters are shown, and variables with a ?
as a value are the decision variables in our model.



Table 1: Parameters and Values
Parameter Value Description
N
w
Number of wind turbine
C
wm
1000$ Annual maintenance cost for wind turbine
h Wind tower height (m)
r Radius of wind turbine (m)
C
wf
50000$ Installation + Fabrication cost of wind turbine (steel cost not included)
i 5% Real Interest rate
ffY
proj
35 year Project lifetime
N
s
Number of solar cells
C
sm
500$ Annual maintenance + cleaning cost for solar panel
C
sc
5000$ Solar panel capital cost + installation cost
rho 1.225 kg/m
3
Air density
c
p
0.45 Coefficient of performance
V
w
Wind speed (m/s)
N
g
50% Generator efficiency
N
b
95% Gearbox bearing efficiency
Voc, V
oco
Voltage for open circuit
n 1< n <2 Ideality factor
K 1.38*10
-23
J/K Boltzmann constant
q Magnitude of the electron charge
R
s
Series resistance (ohm)
I
sc,
I
sco
Short circuit current (A)
G, G
o
Solar radiation, W/m
2
T
o,
T Temperature under standard conditions (K)
, , Constant parameters for PV module



















2.2 Equations

2.2.1 Objective Function

Equation (1) shows our objective function, which we
aim to minimize. It consists of our total costs (wind and
solar), including maintenance costs and capital costs, and
considers the interest rate over the project lifetime. The
cost functions are elaborated on in Section 2.2.3.

Cost(wind)+Cost(Solar) (1)

2.2.2 Demand Constraint

Equation (2) ensures that our model meets the power
demand of the load, using the power generated from the
hybrid system from both wind turbines and solar
arrays. The power generated by both sources is
considered over a 12 month period under different
weather conditions (e.g. higher solar radiation in
summer, high wind in the winter).

P
o
(Wind)+P
o
(Solar)P
demand
(2)

2.2.4 Height And Radius Constraints

Equation (3) limits the height of the wind turbine to 130
meters, while Equation (4) limits the rotor radius to 30
percent of the tower height.

h 1uu (3)

i u.S*h (4)

2.2.3 Overall Costs

Equation (5) gives the cost incurred from operating and
maintaining the wind turbines; this equation incorporates
the costs of increasing the height of the wind turbine and
the rotor diameter. These costs are a multiple of the
number of wind turbines installed, Nw.

Cost(Wind)=N
w
C
wm

+ [0.1 j
h
10
-1[ +1 N
w
(2.449r
2.7
+C
wf
) _
i*(1+i)
Y
proj
(i+1)
Y
proj
-1
] (5)

Equation (6) gives the cost incurred as a function of the
design and placement of the solar arrays, where the cost
is comprised of the capital and maintenance costs. This
cost is a multiple of the optimal number of solar arrays
Ns.
Cost(Solar)=N
s
C
sm
+N
s
C
sc
_
i*(1+i)
Y
proj
(i+1)
Y
proj
-1
] (6)



2.2.4 System Generated Power Output

Equation (7) shows the expected total output power
generated by the total number of wind turbines in the
design; this equation incorporates the effect of the
turbine height and diameter.

P
o
(Wind)=N
w
(1+0.814ln(h)-1.92)
* (0.5rhor
2
c
p
V
w
3
N
g
N
b
) (7)

The overall power output generated by the solar arrays is
given by Equation (8); it is based on a similar model
used by Yang et al. [2] in the analysis of a hybrid solar-
wind power generation system.

P
o
(Solar)=N
s
`

V
oc
nKT
q
-ln_
V
oc
nKT
q
+0.72_
1+
V
oc
nKT
q
*
_1-
R
s
V
oc
I
sc
_*I
sco
[
G
G
o

*
V
oco
1+ ln
G
o
G
[
T
o
T

(8)

4. DISCUSSION AND RESULTS

Our model was simulated using GAMS, with the
objective of minimizing costs, while meeting the
specified load. Finding the optimal number of wind
turbines and solar arrays to meet the load, as well as the
optimal wind turbine height and rotor diameter, was the
focus of this study, as well as to test for good
complementary characteristics between the wind and
solar power systems, and to assess the feasibility of
using such a hybrid system to power different
applications, such as a station or a village.

It is important to note that at first, we tested our model
without inputting weather conditions, meaning that the
wind speeds and solar radiation were considered
constant over the year. In this test, and with a specified
load, our model chose to install wind turbines only, no
matter what the load, without the use of photovoltaic.
This is natural, since wind turbines would generate the
same amount of electricity at a cheaper price, as solar
arrays are quite expensive, so the model would avoid
solar arrays to minimize costs. This means the model
went against our hybrid idea, and chose to have one
system only. However, this shows that we need a hybrid
system only to take advantage of their complementary
characteristics, because wind and solar radiation are not
constant over the year as we specified in our test; in
Middle Eastern countries for example, when there is a
shortage of wind in summer, there is an abundance of
solar radiation, meaning that wind turbines may not be
able to meet demand on their own in summer, and may
require another source to make up for the loss in power
generation.

To test this, along with the feasibility of the hybrid
system for different applications, we again ran our
model, but this time using weather-generated data that is
typical of Middle Eastern countries such as the UAE and
Oman. Using weather data from these countries is
suitable, since desert conditions exist in many
remote/rural areas found in third world countries.

Figure 1 shows the solar radiation and the wind speed as
a percentage of the maximum attainable from each
resource separately, over the course of a year. The
generated data was plotted, and a best-fit line was drawn.


Figure 1: Resources as a percentage of their
maximum over the year
Figure 1 suggests a need for a complementary
relationship between the wind and solar systems, as it
shows a negative correlation between the two resources.

Our model was then used to measure the power output of
the individual energy system components, and their
combined total output, using our generated weather data
shown in Figure 1. The results of these power output
calculations are shown in Figure 2. This figure also
shows the demand line for a certain application with a
load of 10 kW, which our model was able to meet.


Figure 2: Power generated from system components
across a year
The design of the system is tested for three different
applications, considered to be remote and not grid-
connected. One of the applications, a remote home not
connected to the grid, was used in Figure 2. The other
two applications are a remote weather station, which
requires an estimated 5kW, and a remote village, which
requires an estimated 100kW. Incorporating the different
loads into our model, as well as the weather conditions,
gave us the design parameters for the different
applications, shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Optimal design parameters for different
applications
Application Ns Nw r h Annual
Cost
Weather
Station
2 1 10m 34m $107,362
House 3 1 15m 52m $147,545
Village 26 2 30m 100m $1,084,726

5. CONCLUSION

Our study focused on designing a model that would
allow us to find the optimal system design parameters of
a hybrid solar-wind system, taking into consideration the
number of solar arrays and wind turbines, as well as the
wind turbine rotor diameter and height. The objective
was to meet the load of different applications using our
designed hybrid system, while minimizing costs.

Using generated weather data typical of Middle Eastern
deserts, our model had to test the for the presence of a
potential complementary relationship between wind and
solar energy systems under similar weather conditions.
Many different applications were considered, and the
optimal design parameters for each application were
found, meaning the optimum number of solar arrays and
wind turbines, as well as the optimum rotor diameter and
height.

After the tests were carried out, a complementary
relationship between both individual systems was visible
in our results. In summertime, when solar radiation is
abundant and there is little wind energy, the solar arrays
supply most of the required energy. In wintertime, when
wind velocities are higher and there is less solar
radiation, it is the wind turbines that supply most of the
required energy, thus providing clear evidence of a
complementary relationship between the two sources.







0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
W
i
n
d

S
p
e
e
d

(
%
)
,

S
o
l
a
r

R
a
d
a
t
i
o
n
(
%
)
Months
Wind Speed
Solar Radation
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
P
o
w
e
r

(
k
W
)
Months
Wind
Solar
Total
Demand
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