ADEQUACY EVALUATION OF SMALL STAND ALONE WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY BASED POWER SYSTEMS

Abstract

The development and utilization of renewable energy to satisfy increasing electrical energy demand are being given very serious consideration due to concerns associated with dwindling energy resources and enhanced public awareness of the potential impact associated with conventional energy systems on the environment. Particularly, wind and solar energy are being recognized as the most encouraging and promising generation sources in both large grid connected and small stand-alone electric power systems. It is, therefore, both necessary and important to develop consistent reliability evaluation techniques to assess the actual benefit obtained from utilizing these energy sources for electric power generation. At the present time small stand-alone wind and solar energy based power systems are widely used to supply electricity in locations remote from power networks. This thesis examines the adequacy of such small stand-alone systems. The analyses are conducted using time sequential Monte Carlo simulation. A systematic procedure for modeling the wind and sunlight is presented using time-series analysis. The overall adequacy evaluation is conducted by simulating wind and solar site resources, their conversion systems, energy storage using battery and the load demand. The developed models and techniques are relatively easy to use and can be applied to practical systems containing wind and solar energy. The results and discussions presented in this thesis should prove to be useful in planning, designing, and operating small stand-alone wind and solar energy based power systems for electricity supply in remote areas.