Reliability, Unreliability and Failure Rate of a Hybrid Lighting System

As the energy sector is constantly growing in terms of development directions, the reason for analyzing a hybrid system is the fact that it represents a robust, clean and quiet technology with relatively low maintenance costs and a low impact on the environment. The sunlight and wind kinetic energy are free, inexhaustible and do not involve harmful residues or greenhouse gas emissions. The analyzed system is based on the concept of hybrid electricity systems, being an autonomous device designed for street lighting, based on the parallel operation of a wind turbine and a photovoltaic cell system. The Reliability Prediction Mode represents one of the most common forms of analyzing the reliability of a system. This requires the examination of all the parts and components to anticipate their failure rate. Through the reliability prediction method, we evaluate, according to the characteristics taken from the manufacturer’s technical sheet, if the analyzed system works in a normal operating environment for a period of 30000 hours. This system takes into consideration the natural compensation of solar and wind potential, thus, the parallel operation of these two energy conversion systems allows to obtain and increased safety in power supply and achieve yields superior to their separate functioning. The study focuses on obtaining results on the reliability of a hybrid system developed for street lighting by calculating three essential indicators that show if the system’s performance is reliable over a period of 30000 hours of operation, subsequently allowing us to determine if indeed, it is a profitable investment against a traditional street lighting system.