Weather data and analysis of hybrid photovoltaic - wind power generation systems adapted to a seawater greenhouse desalination unit designed for arid coastal countries

The integration of renewable resources such as solar and wind energy is becoming increasingly attractive. This is being used widely for substitution of oil-produced energy and will help to minimize atmospheric degradation. The major advantage of a hybrid system is that when solar and wind power production is used together, the reliability of the system is enhanced. In the present investigation, hourly wind speed and solar radiation measurements, made at a meteorological monitoring station in the Arabian Gulf country of Oman, were analyzed to assess the feasibility of using hybrid (wind + solar) energy conversion systems to meet the energy needs to power a seawater greenhouse The examination of the data collected during the operation of the seawater greenhouse confirms that it is technically feasible to take advantage of renewable energy to run the seawater greenhouse. Wind/solar energy can be employed to power the greenhouse to produce freshwater without the back-up support of fossil fuel energy sources. The greenhouse 16 m wide and 60 m long produced 297 L/day of freshwater. In only 8 h (between 09:00 and 17:00 h) the greenhouse produced 98% of the total freshwater. This interval corresponds to the duration of the solar sunning. The aim of our research is to develop the idea of using solar/photovoltaic or wind energy to power the seawater greenhouse.