•  
  •  
 

Corresponding Author

Harwan M. Taha

Subject Area

Electrical Engineering

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Standalone microgrids play a crucial role in rural areas where grid electricity delivery is difficult and expensive. This research verifies the effectiveness of a standalone microgrid in a rugged area, Pers Mountain in Akre district, Duhok governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan. A first hybrid renewable energy system (HRES)-based standalone microgrid is presented to supply a remote load. Solar and wind energy are employed for their reliability, sustainability, and abundance, with battery storage ensuring continuous power when solar and wind are unavailable. Simulation results demonstrate reliable power supply during summer months (loss of power supply probability < 5%), with the system operating across three modes — PV-dominant daytime, combined wind-battery evening, and battery-discharge nighttime. The inverter achieved minimum total harmonic distortion of 1.53% for both current and voltage outputs, below the IEEE 519 limit. A full-year hourly particle swarm optimization (PSO) sizing analysis assessed annual reliability and each source's economic contribution: the original fixed sizing yields an annual loss of power supply probability (LPSP) of 26.80% (expected energy not served ~1,471 kWh/year), motivating a PSO-optimized PV-battery configuration achieving annual LPSP of 5% (~274 kWh/year unserved) at comparable cost. The site's wind resource is reasonable (13.8% capacity factor), but the fixed tower and controller cost outweighs its contribution at this small scale. The proposed HRES totals $11,960–$16,317 depending on configuration, approximately 28–38 times lower than grid extension ($455,600) to the site, while producing zero CO₂ emissions and avoiding approximately 4,189 kg/year versus an equivalent HOMER Pro-simulated diesel generator.

Keywords

HRES; Solar energy; wind energy; Standalone microgrid; Techno-Economic; PSO.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS