In respect to increasing demand for energy in the world and limited fossil fuel resources, there is a great need for using renewable energies (REs). One of the most attractive applications of RE technology is the application of hybrid energy systems in remote areas. An alternative to overcoming the intermittence of RE sources, such as the sun and wind (are freely available and environmental friendly), is to develop the hybrid energy system where excess electrical energy could be converted and stored. These sources combined with energy storage would provide a better system reliability making it suitable for stand-alone applications. They have been integrated and worked at the Taleghan renewable energies site in Iran. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's hybrid optimization model for electric renewables simulation software has been used to carry out the optimal design and techno-economic viability of energy system in this study. The simulation results demonstrate that for hybrid energy system is consists of 0.8 kW PV modules, two wind turbines (0.4 kW each), 2.5 kW inverter, and 8 batteries (200 Ah and 12 V). The cost of energy is 1.655 US$/kWh, whereas the initial capital required, and net present costs are, 22998 US$ and 24623 US$, respectively.
Hydrogen is one of the most promising and cleanest energy carriers, since it can be produced by water electrolysis. The efficiency of a solar 10 kW photovoltaic (PV) array consisting of 10 series-connected electrolyzer stacks and coupled with a 5 kW alkaline (KOH, 28%) electrolyzer has been investigated at the Taleghan renewable energies site in Iran. The hydrogen produced by the electrolyzer provides energy to a 1 kW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell, which meets the load when the solar energy is insufficient. Variations of the solar radiation intensity, the hydrogen production rate, the solar hydrogen efficiency and the overall efficiency of the solar hydrogen energy unit were monitored in details. The overall energy efficiency was found to range from 0.93 % to 5.01 %. The obtained results demonstrate the great potential of this power system for producing and storing energy in a solar-belt country like Iran.
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