During the past decade and more, the conventional energy production has led to the exaggeration of Climate Change due to the continuous emissions of greenhouse gases. To this end, renewables are the means of energy transition under the installation of Photovoltaics (PVs) and Wind Turbines (WTs) either in grid-dependent or stand-alone operation mode.
Aim of this study is the development of a combined sizing and energy management/control that will simultaneously provide optimal solutions for the accurate sizes of RES-based units that are able to incorporate short-term energy shortage with accumulators. Two options will be presented with this study: a) sizing of PV/WT-grid dependent and b) PV/WT-off grid systems. In the 1st option, the net-metering strategy will be applied and the optimal problem set-up will seek solution for sizing PV/WT hybrid systems towards satisfying a variable load demand with minimum power losses. In the 2nd option, the same strategy will be applied but in this case, the optimal sizing will take into account the use of short-term energy storage (accumulators) under a flexible energy management strategy (protecting the overutilization of charging/discharging cycles). As a reference region, two areas in Greece will be selected, Kozani at the Western Macedonia and Crete at the Southern part of Greece. In all modeling and simulation results, validated mathematical models of PV/WT units will be used for highest accuracy.
Based on the above results, this study will close by presenting a novel optimal sizing and energy management/control strategy for the operation of PV/WT systems along with hydrogen production (through PEM electrolyzers and high-pressure storage) and accumulators. As will be presented, this novel strategy can lead towards a completely optimal hybrid system with minimum power losses, minimum capital and operating expenses (CAPEX+OPEX) and satisfying both hydrogen and load demands.
