Optimal Sizing of a Stand-alone Wind/Photovoltaic Generation Unit using Particle Swarm Optimization

A hybrid wind/photovoltaic generation system is designed to supply power demand. The aim of this design is minimization of the overall cost of the generation scheme over 20 years of operation. Full demand supply is modeled as constraint for optimization problem. Characteristic equations of the system components and solar radiation and wind speed datasets are assumed to be deterministic, i.e. uncertainties are ignored. The system's costs include investment, replacement, and operation and maintenance costs during 20 years of system lifetime. All system components are commercially available, and actual prices are used. Wind and radiation datasets are for the North West region of Iran (Ardebil province). A Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem. Results indicate superiority of the PSO algorithm, in terms of speed and convergence to global optimum solution, over a Genetic Algorithm that is conventionally exploited in literature.