Optimal techno-economic unit sizing of hybrid PV/Wind/battery energy system for an islanded microgrid using the forever power method

Advancement in power electronics, energy storage, control, and renewable energy sources has lead the use of integrated renewable energy sources in isolated Microgrids (MG). Also, the use of integrated renewable energy sources are becoming technically applicable, economical more feasible, and environmentally friendly than conventional sources. As a result, electrification of rural villages using renewable energy technologies is starting to be widely adopted in most countries around the world. The use of proper energy storage technology is technically important to eliminate the mismatch between power demand and generation. Sizing of each renewable energy sources and energy storage determine the cost and reliability of the system. It is challenging to optimize the size of hybrid micro-sources for an islanded MG with minimum capital cost while achieving the targeted availability of power supply due to the dynamic behavior of energy sources. In this paper, typical meteorological data (TMY) is used with the Forever Power method to generate all possible combinations of PV panels, wind turbines and battery energy storage with all of their corresponding availabilities of power supply. The goal of this study is to select the size that best fits the targeted availability of power supply and lowest cost of the system. In this paper, I have applied this method to an islanded MG for four houses at a rural area near Yanbu City, Saudi Arabia.