Resource Allocation, Utilization and Feasibility Study of a Rural Microgrid

Renewable energy system is promising electrical generation system. These resources are freely available and environmentally friendly. For isolated areas where grid infrastructure is not possible, integration of these resources is economically and technically advantageous. The current article describe the integration of different renewable energy resources for a group of villages of India state of Uttarakhand. The integrated model consists of available energy resources in the vicinity such as Micro-hydro power (MHP), Biomass energy system (BES), Solar photovoltaic system (SPV) and Wind energy system (WES) in order to fulfill the total energy demand of the area. To know the utilization of different renewable energy resource a factor introduced which is known as utilization factor. The value of utilization calculated by using different optimization methods (Fmincon, GA, hybrid) for a microgrid model. Comparative analysis of different optimization technique suggest that results obtained using hybrid optimization technique is better than GA and Fmincon. Further, the feasibility study of developed microgrid model is investigated by introducing a factor optimum power delivery factor (OPDF). This factor varies from 1.0 to 0.25 considering the intermittency of available renewable resources. Studies suggest that OPDF in the range of 1.0-0.75 provide feasible solution of energy demand and beyond this it is infeasible.