Techno-economic analysis of photovoltaic/wind hybrid system for onshore/remote area in Indonesia

Indonesia has considerable wind and solar energy potential, especially on onshore areas. However the wind and solar energy utilization is still low due to the high investment costs. This paper analyzes the potential use of wind turbine and PV (photovoltaic) for a PV/wind hybrid system in an onshore/remote location. NREL's (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) software is used to perform the techno-economic feasibility of the PV/wind hybrid system. Simulations demonstrate that a 1-kW wind turbine has a capability to produce electricity of 496 kWh/yr, while a PV panel at the same size generates electricity of 2079 kW/yr. The results also show that wind turbine and battery are the most important components of the PV/wind hybrid system to meet demand loads at night hours. Since these two components give the greatest contributions to system costs, it is necessary to choose their best sizes to minimize the costs, but by taking into account that no loads are unmet. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.