Investigating grid-connected green power systems’ energy storage solutions in the event of frequent blackouts

Abstract

When it comes to dealing with power outages, hybrid grid-connected systems seem like a promising option, especially for underdeveloped nations. For supplying power during periods of unpredictability, a PV/battery system connected to the grid is considered in this study. Batteries were used as a backup system to compensate for main grid outages in this paper, and five distinct types of energy storage battery technologies were compared: lead-acid battery (LA), lithium-ion battery (LI), vanadium redox battery (VR), nickel–iron battery (NI), and zinc–bromine​ flow battery (ZBF). The study was conducted in El Dabaa, Matrouh Governorate, Egypt (31° 1.6′N, 28° 26.6′E) using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) software. The investment cost, the renewable energy friction, and the excess electricity are the main comparative indexes considered. In the absence of outages, the grid is totally dependent on, with a total system NPC of $58,000 and a COE of $0.089/kWh for a short-term investment, $81,883 and $0.089/kWh for a medium-term investment, and $121,382 and $0.089/kWh for a long-term investment. The study reveals that the investment plan’s duration had no impact on the proposed solar PV/battery system size, renewable energy percentage, CO2 emissions, or unmet electric load.

Keywords

• Grid-connected hybrid renewable energy system
• Solar energy
• Techno-economic analysis
• Battery technology
• HOMER Pro® software
• Grid outages