Optimal Sizing of Residential Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems: A Comparative Study of HOMER Pro and PSO

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Background:Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems (HRES) are increasingly considered a promising solution for supplying reliable, economical, and sustainable electricity to local loads. However, determining the optimal system size remains a major challenge, particularly because commercial tools such as HOMER Pro and metaheuristic methods such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) rely on different optimization strategies.

Methods: This study presents a comparative assessment of HOMER Pro and PSO for the sizing of a residential HRES consisting of photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, battery storage, and a diesel generator. The comparison is based on three main performance indicators: Net Present Cost (NPC), Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), and renewable energy fraction.

Results: The findings show that PSO achieves approximately 5% better NPC performance than HOMER Pro while maintaining similar system reliability and enabling greater renewable energy penetration. In contrast, HOMER Pro yields a lower-cost configuration in terms of initial economic selection under the studied conditions, but it is associated with a higher LCOE and a null renewable fraction.

Conclusion: These results demonstrate the greater flexibility of PSO in improving renewable energy integration while reducing long-term system costs. The study provides useful insights for the optimal design and techno-economic evaluation of residential hybrid renewable energy systems.