OPTIMIZATION AND SIZING OF AN ISLAND MICROGRID BASED ON PHOTOVOLTAIC/FUEL CELL (PV/FC) IN KSA

Abstract

The major goal of this research manuscript is to conduct economical and feasibility studies of an island photovoltaic/fuel cell (PV/FC) hybrid system. It has been designed to feed electricity to a remote area positioned in albaha zone in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To achieve this mission, all system devices are modelled and simulated via optimization mechanisms. An objective function is formulated relied on the total annual cost (TAC). An optimization mechanism, the Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA) has been applied to obtain the optimum number of the photovoltaic (PV) panels, the electrolyzers; the H2 storage tanks the fuel cells (FCs) and the number of batteries for the proposed system with the least total net present value (TNPV) of the hybrid system. The loss of power supply probability (LPSP) has been utilized to improve the performance of the proposed system. The premier estimation fluctuation effect of the FC, the electrolyzer and the H2 storage tanks on the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) has been applied in the sensitivity test.