Optimal planning and design of a renewable energy based supply system for microgrids

Renewable energy sources are gradually being recognized as important options in supply side planning for microgrids. This paper focuses on the optimal design, planning, sizing and operation of a hybrid, renewable energy based microgrid with the goal of minimizing the lifecycle cost, while taking into account environmental emissions. Four different cases including a diesel-only, a fully renewable-based. a diesel-renewable mixed, and an external grid-connected microgrid configurations are designed, to compare and evaluate their economics, operational performance and environmental emissions. Analysis is also carried out to determine the break-even economics for a grid-connected microgrid. The well-known energy modeling software for hybrid renewable energy systems, HOMER is used in the studies reported in this paper. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.