Modeling, Simulation, and Experimental Analysis of a Photovoltaic and Biogas Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Electrification of Rural Community

Abstract

This research is a numerical study, with simulation and experimental investigation of a novel photovoltaic and biogas hybrid renewable energy system. PVSYST simulation software is used to evaluate the energy generation of photovoltaic (PV) systems installed at optimum tilt angle and interrow spacing, as well as measure the performance ratio and system losses. The results obtained from simulations show that annual energy production from designed PV system is 16 654.80 kWh year−1 and its annual specific energy production is 1556.5 kWh kWp year−1. The average annual performance ratio is about 84.3%, normalized array production is 3.23 kWh kWp day−1, normalized system losses are 0.07 kWh kWp day−1, and normalized system production is 3.16 kWh kWp day−1. With SuperPro Designer software, a model is developed for simulating anaerobic digestion for treating animal manure to produce biogas. The simulation yields 88.13% of CH4 and 6.49% of CO2. The performance of the installed experimental setup is examined for 30 d. The maximum load demand of all houses is 46.902 kWh, whereas maximum energy produced by a hybrid PV/biogas system is 61.06 kWh. The payback period for a hybrid photovoltaic/biogas system is estimated to be 4.47 years and levelized cost of energy is 0.0186 USD kWh−1. The hybrid PV/biogas system results in net CO2 mitigation of 20.45 tCO2(e).

Optimal sizing and technical assessment of a hybrid renewable energy solution for off-grid community center power

“…A survey has been conducted in the off-grid region, and it was found that the average household within the region has more than 10 animals. Table 4 provides information on the average manure production of several living things (Habib et al, 2023b).…”

“…Monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon PV module cells remain the main photovoltaic technology, with fabrication/production costs of components of about $ 1.50 per watt (Razykov et al, 2011). Habib et al (2023b) presented research on the production of biogas energy, which can be produced from various sources, like an animal and municipal waste. Anaerobic digestion of animal manure reduces environmental pollution and produces comparatively cheap/inexpensive and easily accessible energy for dairy farms.…”

“…Anaerobic digestion of animal manure reduces environmental pollution and produces comparatively cheap/inexpensive and easily accessible energy for dairy farms. The produced gases are used for heating water in commercial buildings, for cooking, lighting, dry grain, and greenhouse heating in cold weather (Habib et al, 2023b). A simulation model of the biogas production is given by analysis method.…”

“…It estimates power generation while accounting for losses caused by the environment, efficiencies of system components, wiring, shading, module mismatches, soiling, reflection, aging, and clipping losses. PVSyst is a newly developed simulation software (launched by Folsom Labs) that combines AutoCad design capabilities with all functionalities of the PV system to help system designers generate a complete design in one software package (Tamoor et al, 2021d;Faiz et al, 2021;Habib et al, 2023b). To perform energy estimations and create 3D models, PVSyst enables the utilization of a single software package.…”

“…It has the benefit of being able to provide highly accurate estimates of the PV system that can be installed at the proposed location, monthly and annual power production, performance ratio, layout of PV system, number of inverters and PV modules, single line diagram (SLD), losses in photovoltaic system, shading analysis, electric cabling selection, global horizontal irradiance (GHI), diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI), plane of the array (POA) irradiation, temperature indicators, computer-aided drafting (CAD) tools and SketchUp shading integration. It is also feasible to select required components of system such as rating and type (Si-Mono, Si-Poly) of photovoltaic modules, inverters rating, tilt angle, azimuth angle, orientation (horizontal and vertical mounting) of photovoltaic modules, frame size, array row arrangement, inter-row spacing between PV array, and AC/DC electric cables during the design process for PV systems (Habib et al, 2023b;Habib et al, 2023c). When developing a simulations model of PV plants, PVSyst incorporates meteorological data from the NASA-SSE (Solar System Exploration, 2023), Metronome (Meteonorm Software, 2023), and Solar Prospector (Solar Prospector, 2021) databases.…”