6/18/2019 Solar hybrid power systems - Wikipedia

Solar hybrid power systems

Solar hybrid power systems are hybrid power systems that combine solar power from a photovoltaic system with another
power generating energy source.[1][2] A common type is a photovoltaic diesel hybrid system,[3][4] combining
photovoltaics (PV) and diesel generators, or diesel gensets, as PV has hardly any marginal cost and is treated with priority on
the grid. The diesel gensets are used to constantly fill in the gap between the present load and the actual generated power by
the PV system.[2]

As solar energy is fluctuating, and the generation capacity of the diesel genesets is limited to a certain range, it is often a viable
option to include battery storage in order to optimize solar's contribution to the overall generation of the hybrid system.[2][5]

The best business cases for diesel reduction with solar and wind energy can normally be found in remote locations because
these sites are often not connected to the grid and transport of diesel over long distances is expensive.[1] Many of these
applications can be found in the mining sector [6] and on islands [2][7][8]
Hybrid solar and wind system
In 2015, a case-study conducted in seven countries concluded that in all cases generating costs can be reduced by hybridising
mini-grids and isolated grids. However, financing costs for diesel-powered electricity grids with solar photovoltaics are crucial
and largely depend on the ownership structure of the power plant. While cost reductions for state-owned utilities can be significant, the study also identified short-term
economic benefits to be insignificant or even negative for non-public utilities, such as independent power producers, given historical costs at the time of the study.[9][10]

Other solar hybrids include solar-wind systems. The combination of wind and solar has the advantage that the two sources complement each other because the peak operating
times for each system occur at different times of the day and year. The power generation of such a hybrid system is more constant and fluctuates less than each of the two
component subsystems.[11]

The intermittent / non-dispatchable solar PV at the prevailing low tariffs clubbed with Pumped-heat electricity storage can offer cheapest dispatchable power round the clock
on demand.

Solar thermal hybrid systems

Though Solar PV generates cheaper intermittent power during the day light time, it needs the support of sustainable power generation sources to provide round the clock
power. Solar thermal plants with thermal storage are clean sustainable power generation to supply electricity round the clock.[12][13] They can cater the load demand perfectly
and work as base load power plants when the extracted solar energy is found excess in a day.[14] Proper mix of solar thermal (thermal storage type) and solar PV can fully
match the load fluctuations without the need of costly battery storage.[15][16]

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During the day time, the additional auxiliary power consumption of a solar thermal storage power plant is nearly 10% of its rated capacity for the process of extracting solar
energy in the form of thermal energy.[14] This auxiliary power requirement can be made available from cheaper solar PV plant by envisaging hybrid solar plant with a mix of
solar thermal and solar PV plants at a site. Also to optimise the cost of power, generation can be from the cheaper solar PV plant (33% generation) during the day light
whereas the rest of the time in a day is from the solar thermal storage plant (67% generation from Solar power tower and parabolic trough types) for meeting 24 hours base
load operation.[17] When solar thermal storage plant is forced to idle due to lack of sunlight locally during cloudy days in monsoon season, it is also possible to consume
(similar to a lesser efficient, huge capacity and low cost battery storage system) the cheap surplus / infirm power from solar PV, wind and hydro power plants by heating the
hot molten salt to higher temperature for converting stored thermal energy in to electricity during the peak demand hours when the electricity sale price is profitable.[18][19]

Gallery

Typical wind and solar hybrid system Hybrid on Žirje, Croatia Small wind and solar hybrid system

See also
Distributed generation Stand-alone power system
Hybrid power Wind hybrid power system
Hybrid renewable energy system Photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collector

References
3. Thomas Hillig (24 February 2016). "Hybrid Power Plants" (http://www.th-energy.n
1. Thomas Hillig (22 January 2015). "Renewables for the Mining Sector" (http://ww
et/english/platform-renewable-energy-and-mining/hybrid-power-plants/). th-
w.decentralized-energy.com/articles/print/volume-16/issue-1/features/renewables
energy.net.
-for-the-mining-sector.html). decentralized-energy.com.
4. Amanda Cain (22 January 2014). "What Is a Photovoltaic Diesel Hybrid
2. "Hybrid power plants (wind- or solar-diesel)" (http://www.th-energy.net/english/pla
System?" (http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2014/01/what-is-
tform-renewable-energy-and-mining/hybrid-power-plants/). TH-Energy.net – A
a-photovoltaic-diesel-hybrid-system). RenewableEnergyWorld.com.
platform for renewables & mining. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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6/18/2019 Solar hybrid power systems - Wikipedia

5. Kunal K. Shah, Aishwarya S. Mundada, Joshua M. Pearce. Performance of U.S. 12. "Solar Reserve awarded AU$78/MWh Concentrated Solar Power contract" (htt
hybrid distributed energy systems: Solar photovoltaic, battery and combined heat p://helioscsp.com/solarreserve-awarded-au78mwh-concentrated-solar-power-con
and power. Energy Conversion and Management 105, pp. 71–80 (2015). DOI: tract/). Retrieved 23 August 2017.
10.1016/j.enconman.2015.07.048 (https://www.academia.edu/14674492/Perform 13. "LuNeng 50 MW Concentrated Solar Power tower EPC bid reopened overseas
ance_of_U.S._hybrid_distributed_energy_systems_Solar_photovoltaic_battery_a suppliers win over" (http://helioscsp.com/luneng-50mw-concentrated-solar-power
nd_combined_heat_and_power) -tower-epc-bid-reopened-oversea-suppliers-win-over/). Retrieved 12 September
6. http://www.th-energy.net/english/platform-renewable-energy-and- 2017.
mining/database-solar-wind-power-plants/ 14. "Aurora: What you should know about Port Augusta's solar power-tower" (http://r
7. Thomas Hillig (January 2016). "Sun For More Than Fun" (http://www.solarindustr eneweconomy.com.au/aurora-what-you-should-know-about-port-augustas-solar-
ymag.com/issues/SI1601/FEAT_03_Sun-For-More-Than-Fun-Island-Resorts-Ben power-tower-86715/). Retrieved 22 August 2017.
efit-From-Solar-Power.html). solarindustrymag.com. 15. "SolarReserve receives environmental approval 390 MW solar thermal facility
8. http://www.th-energy.net/english/platform-renewable-energy-on- storage in Chile" (https://solarthermalmagazine.com/2017/07/19/solarreserve-rec
islands/database-solar-wind-power-plants/ eives-environmental-approval-390-megawatt-solar-thermal-facility-storage-
9. "New study: Hybridising electricity grids with solar PV saves costs, especially chile/). Retrieved 29 August 2017.
benefits state-owned utilities" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150726213948/htt 16. "SolarReserve Bids 24-Hour Solar At 6.3 Cents In Chile" (https://cleantechnica.c
p://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/current/2015/kw22/new-stud om/2017/03/13/solarreserve-bids-24-hour-solar-6-3-cents-chile/). Retrieved
y-hybridising-electricity-grids-with-solar-pv-saves-costs-especially-benefits-state- 29 August 2017.
owned-utilities.html). SolarServer.com. 31 May 2015. Archived from the original 17. "Cheap Baseload Solar At Copiapó Gets OK In Chile" (https://cleantechnica.com/
(http://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/current/2015/kw22/new-s 2015/08/25/cheap-baseload-solar-copiapo-gets-ok-chile-exclusive-info/).
tudy-hybridising-electricity-grids-with-solar-pv-saves-costs-especially-benefits-sta Retrieved 1 September 2017.
te-owned-utilities.html) on 26 July 2015.
18. "Salt, silicon or graphite: energy storage goes beyond lithium ion batteries" (http
10. "Renewable Energy in Hybrid Mini-Grids and Isolated Grids: Economic Benefits s://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/06/salt-silicon-or-graphit
and Business Cases" (http://fs-unep-centre.org/publications/renewable-energy-h e-energy-storage-goes-beyond-lithium-ion-batteries). Retrieved 1 September
ybrid-mini-grids-and-isolated-grids-economic-benefits-and-business#overlay-cont 2017.
ext=publications). Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate &
19. "Commercializing Standalone Thermal Energy Storage" (http://www.renewableen
Sustainable Energy Finance. May 2015.
ergyworld.com/articles/print/volume-18/issue-110/features/thermal-renewable-en
11. "Hybrid Wind and Solar Electric Systems" (http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/ ergy/commercializing-standalone-thermal-energy-storage.html). Retrieved
hybrid-wind-and-solar-electric-systems). energy.gov. DOE. 2 July 2012. 1 September 2017.

External links
Wind, Solar, and Hybrid Plants used in the Mining Industry Project database "Renewables in Mining" (http://www.th-energy.net/english/platform-renewable-energy-and-mi
ning/database-solar-wind-power-plants/)
Wind, Solar, and Hybrid Plants used on Islands Project database "Renewables on Islands" (http://www.th-energy.net/english/platform-renewable-energy-on-islands/datab
ase-solar-wind-power-plants/)

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