Technical-Economic Evaluation of a Stand-Alone Hybrid Renewable Energy System with Different Dispatch Strategies

Rural electrification through hybrid renewable energy systems has had a significant growth in recent years, the technical dimensioning seeks to prioritize the reliability of the energy supply through the optimization of the microgrid at the lowest cost of energy. When it comes to optimal sizing, it is essential to use a dispatch strategy in order to improve reliability, reduce environmental contamination, and minimize the economic cost of the system. The software used provides various dispatch strategies, among which the widely used cycle load (CC) strategy stands out, but it seeks the proper functioning of the system in real time without planning for the future. Another strategy is load tracking (LF). The research work seeks to evaluate technically and economically with different dispatch strategies a hybrid system made up of photovoltaic panels/diesel generator/battery bank implemented in an isolated community in the Gulf of Guayaquil in Ecuador. The results show that for a load of 14.37 kilowatt-hour (kWh)/day, the optimal system is made up of a 10 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic generator, a 2.8 kW diesel generator, and a battery bank made up of ten units of 140 Ah. The cost of implementation and energy with the LF strategy is 21,704 US dollars (USD) and 0.322 USD/kWh, respectively, while with the CC strategy, the respective costs are 22,584 USD and 0.335 USD, and the load is fully satisfied by providing high reliability.