Simulation of Solar-Photovoltaic Hybrid Power Generation System with Energy Storage and Supervisory Control for Base Transceiver Station (BTS) Site Located in Rural Nigeria

Abstract

This paper presents the design of power generation (Photovoltaic (PV)/Diesel Hybrid Power system) for macro Base Transmitter Station Site located in Ogologo-Eji Ndiagu Akpugo in Eastern Nigeria with a daily load of 254kwh/d. Solar resource for the design of the system was obtained from the NASA Surface Meteorology and solar energy website at a location of 6°35'N latitude and 7°51'E Longitude, with annual average solar radiation of 4.92kWh/m²/d. The model was designed to provide an optimal system configuration based on an hour-by-hour data for energy availability and demands. Energy source, energy storage and their applicability in terms of performance are discussed. The Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) software was used for the design of the proposed stand-alone PV/Diesel power system. The study evaluates savings associated with the conversion of the diesel powered system to a PV/Diesel hybrid power system. From the simulation results, the proposed system has a total NPC cost and the amount of CO₂ as ($19,451,848; 83.62 tonnes) and saves ($3,314,186; 14.88 tonnes) when compared with the diesel only system ($22,766,034; 98.50 tonnes). A control system for the Hybrid PV-Diesel Energy System with Battery Storage was developed to coordinate when power should be generated by PV panels and when it should be generated by diesel generator and is intended to maximize the use of renewable system while limiting the use of diesel generator. The diesel generator is allocated only when the demand cannot be met by the renewable energy source including battery bank.