10 kW solar photovoltaic — Diesel hybrid energy system for different solar zones of India

A 10 kW standalone power generating system is proposed and analyzed for different solar zones of India. The system consists solar PV, diesel generator, batteries and converter. Optimum sizing of diesel generator and solar PV system that fulfills the load demand is obtained by varying the capacity of diesel generator and solar PV system components individually. For system sizing, Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER 3.4.3) is used. HOMER fulfills the system demand using two different methods or dispatch strategy (a) load following and (b) cycle charging. The output of the software for both the methods is compared on the basis of levelized cost of energy (LCOE), power produced and emission of greenhouse gases. On comparison Load Following method is found to be better than cycle charging method of simulation. Simulating the solar PV - diesel generator system using HOMER for different locations namely Chennai, Jaipur, Shillong and Srinagar locations are selected in different solar zones of India. For installation of hybrid energy system Jaipur is found to be better with minimum levelized cost of energy of Rs. 12.681/kWh and Chennai, Srinagar and Shillong follow the order, as Shillong has maximum levelized cost of energy of Rs. 14.205/kWh.