Optimal Design of Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES) for Institutional Building. A Case Study of University Campus

Abstract

Pakistan's power generation is mostly dependent on fossil fuels. Therefore, the minimum grid power with maximum renewable energy sources can be used to fulfill the load demand. Only medium and small energy consumers can achieve this by installing hybrid systems at their sites. This study presented an optimal design of hybrid renewable energy system that deliver to an institutional building (A Case study of university campus in Pakistan). A technical and economic evaluation was carried out to identify the optimal design of hybrid renewable energy system using HOMER Pro software. Meteorological data collected from NASA were placed into HOMER to evaluate the availability of RE resources. The load profile of the building was calculated to measure energy consumption per 24 h/day. Furthermore, this study presents Bahria University Islamabad Campus in Pakistan. A multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) was performed, based on objectives including net present cost (NPC), levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.HRM-1 was comprised of PV, converter, diesel generator and battery. HRM-2 had solar panels and battery converter system which acted as a base case in this study.HRM-3 had PV, battery converter system, diesel generator and grid.HRM-4 had PV, battery converter system and grid. Based on the LCOE, the optimal model was HRM-3 having a (- 0.0137 $/KWh) LCOE with Grid. The NPC and operating costs were (-$160, 354) and (-$36, 925) per year respectively as compared to the base case. Based on the GHG emissions HRM-2 was the best model with 0% emissions. The results confirmed that the proposed HRMs can sustainably provide electricity for 24 hours a day to the university campus.