Feasibility Analysis of PV-Biogas System with Different PV Tracking Mechanisms

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tharani, Kusum Lata^{a; *} | Dahiya, Ratna^b

Affiliations: [a] Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth's College of Engineering, New Delhi, India | [b] Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, India

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding Author. kusum.tharani@rediffmail.com

Abstract: Energy is the sole criteria for the development of any country. There are so many remote rural areas in India where the scope of conventional energy source is not a practical aspect. Hence it becomes the responsibility of researchers in this area to provide a feasible solution of renewable energy source in the particular region. The present paper is framed to meet this aspect by providing a hybrid photovoltaic (PV)-biogas (BG)-battery (BT) system for remote rural areas of Madhya Pradesh (M.P.) under dense forest cover. The modelling and simulation is done using HOMER software. The model is tested and optimized using fixed PV mounting structure, single axis tracking mechanism and dual axis tracking mechanism. A techno-economic analysis of the hybrid system for the above three cases is done. It is clearly found that in the hybrid configuration using dual axis PV tracking arrangement, the PV system rating requirement decreases by up to 20% and battery rating requirement decreases by up to 10% in comparison to the hybrid configuration using fixed mounting structure or single axis tracker arrangement. This reduces the total net present cost (NPC), levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and capacity shortage of the system.

Keywords: Net present cost, hybrid, biogas, photovoltaic, optimization

DOI: 10.3233/AJW-180037

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 5-11, 2018