Techno‐economic analysis of hybrid <scp>PV</scp>–diesel–battery and <scp>PV</scp>–wind–diesel–battery power systems for mobile <scp>BTS</scp>: the way forward for rural development

TLDR

Hybrid renewable energy systems are increasingly used to supply electricity in remote areas where grid extension is too costly. The study analyzes the techno‑economic performance and environmental benefits of hybrid solar‑wind‑diesel‑battery systems for a remote mobile base transceiver station in Nigeria. The authors used HOMER to model and compare two optimal hybrid configurations—PV–diesel–battery and PV–wind–diesel–battery—against a stand‑alone diesel generator, including sensitivity analyses of solar, wind, and diesel price variations. The optimal PV–diesel–battery system achieved the lowest net present cost of $69,811 and a unit electricity cost of $0.409, while also reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 16.4 t yr⁻¹ compared to a stand‑alone diesel generator.

Abstract

Abstract In recent times, hybrid renewable energy systems are increasingly being utilized to provide electricity in remote areas especially where the grid extension is considered too expensive. This study presents the results of techno‐economic analysis of hybrid system comprising of solar and wind energy for powering a specific remote mobile base transceiver station ( BTS ) in Nigeria. All the necessary modeling, simulation, and techno‐economic evaluation are carried out using the assessment software package HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable). Two best optimal system configurations namely PV –diesel–battery and PV –wind–diesel–battery systems are compared with the conventional stand‐alone diesel generator (DG) system. Findings indicated that PV array (10 kW) – DG (5.5 kW) – battery (64 units Trojan L16P) is the most economically viable option with the total net present cost of $69,811 and per unit cost of electricity of $0.409. The sensitivity analysis is also carried out to find the effects of probable variation in solar radiation, wind speed, and diesel price in the optimal system configurations. Finally, the environmental benefit of hybrid systems over the conventional stand‐alone diesel system is described. The obtained results show that the hybrid PV –diesel–battery system provides a reduction in CO 2 emissions of about 16.4 tons per year as compared to the stand‐alone DG system.