Abstract:
In this paper, two control strategies involving “continuous” and “ON/OFF” operation of the diesel
generator in the solar photovoltaicedieselebattery hybrid systems are modeled. The main purpose of
these developed models is to minimize the hybrid system's operation cost while finding the optimal
power flow considering the intermittent solar resource, the battery state of charge and the fluctuating
load demand. The non-linearity of the load demand, the non-linearity of the diesel generator fuel
consumption curve as well as the battery operation limits have been considered in the development of
the models. The simulations have been performed using “fmincon” for the continuous operation and
“intlinprog” for the ON/OFF operation strategy implemented in Matlab. These models have been applied
to two test examples; the simulation results are analyzed and compared to the case where the diesel
generator is used alone to supply the given load demand. The results show that using the developed
photovoltaicedieselebattery optimal operation control models, significant fuel saving can be achieved
compared to the case where the diesel is used alone to supply the same load requirements.