Performance analysis of wind-photovoltaic-battery based DC microgrid setup for off-grid applications

Abstract

This paper presents the performance analysis of an integrated renewable energy based power generation system with DC micro grid setup. The designed system comprises of wind generator (WG) system, photovoltaic (PV) panels, battery, charge controllers and DC loads as its major components. PV panels have the major contribution of supply hence it is the primary source for the designed system. WG acts as a secondary source because of its lower contribution in the supply. Lead acid battery is used as an energy storage system (ESS) to make the system more reliable by fulfilling the supply demand gap between the source and load. The proposed system presents a low cost, simple design integrated system based on basic electronic components with key features of stable voltages at load terminals, overvoltage and low voltage protection for load, back feed power flow protection for sources and overcharge and discharge protection for the battery backup. Real time results have been presented and proved that voltages have been maintained at the load terminals with small variation of 10–12%. This makes the system efficient and does not create much adverse effects on the load performance. The proposed system is suitable for off-grid remote areas facilities which offers reliable, cost effective and efficient system that maintains the voltage stability and improves the battery life.