Optimal design and feasibility study of renewable hybrid energy systems

Of the 1.24 billion people in the country, more than 450 million people do not have access to electricity as well as over 95,000 villages still remain dark after sunset. Even the electrified villages suffer power cuts of 15 hours or more on a daily basis. These problems compel us to resort to other energy sources that are inexhaustible. The paper proposes analysis and comparative study of Hybrid Renewable Electric System, especially Photovoltaic-Fuel cell hybrid system, Wind-Fuel cell hybrid system and Photovoltaic-Wind-Fuel Cell hybrid system with Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) software for distributed generation system. The model simulates all the above small power technologies in hybrid configurations to identify the optimum hybrid system with minimal cost for remote residential loads in the Sunderbans, India.