692
2, MAY 2005
Simulink Model for Economic Analysis and
Environmental Impacts of a PV With Diesel-Battery
System for Remote Villages
Richard W. Wies, Member, IEEE, Ron A. Johnson, Ashish N. Agrawal, Student Member, IEEE, and
Tyler J. Chubb, Student Member, IEEE
Abstract—This paper discusses the economic analysis and
environmental impacts of integrating a photovoltaic (PV) array
into diesel-electric power systems for remote villages. MATLAB
Simulink is used to match the load with the demand and appor-
tion the electrical production between the PV and diesel-electric
generator. The economic part of the model calculates the fuel
consumed, the kilowatthours obtained per gallon of fuel supplied,
and the total cost of fuel. The environmental part of the model
calculates the 2 , particulate matter (PM), and the x fore, photovoltaic (PV), wind, and other renewable sources of
emitted to the atmosphere. Simulations based on an actual system
in the remote Alaskan community of Lime Village were performed
for three cases: 1) diesel only; 2) diesel-battery; and 3) PV with
diesel-battery using a one-year time period. The simulation results
were utilized to calculate the energy payback, the simple payback
time for the PV module, and the avoided costs of 2, x,
and PM. Post-simulation analysis includes the comparison of
results with those predicted by Hybrid Optimization Model for
Electric Renewables (HOMER). The life-cycle cost (LCC) and air
emissions results of our Simulink model were comparable to those
predicted by HOMER.
Index Terms—Energy payback period, greenhouse emissions,
hybrid power system, photovoltaic (PV) array, power system
monitoring, remote terminal unit.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE NEED for energy-efficient electric power sources in
remote locations is a driving force for research in hybrid
energy systems. Power utilities in many countries around the
world are diverting their attention toward more energy- efficient
and renewable electric power sources. Reasons for this interest
include the possibilities of “taxes” or other penalties for emis-
sions of greenhouse gases as well as other pollutants plus the fi-
nite supply of fossil fuels. The use of renewable energy sources
in remote locations could help reduce the operating cost through
the reduction in fuel consumption, increase system efficiency,
and reduce noise and emissions [1], [2]. In some remote villages,
including Lime Village, Alaska, stand-alone hybrid power sys-
tems are often more cost effective than utility grid extensions,
mainly due to the high cost of transmission lines.
Manuscript received March 26, 2004; revised August 20, 2004. This work
was supported by the Arctic Energy Technology and Development Laboratory
(AETDL) under Grant G00000406 with the United States Department of En-
ergy. Paper no. TPWRS-00167-2004.
The authors are with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Depart-
ment, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775-5915 USA (e-mail:
ffrww@uaf.edu; ffraj@uaf.edu).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRS.2005.846084
0885-8950/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 20, NO.
Based on energy consumption studies compiled by the U.S.
Department of Energy, Alaska spends $28.71 per million BTU
for electrical energy versus $19.37 per million BTU for the rest
of the United States [3]. It is very expensive to transport fuel
for diesel electric generators (DEGs) in some villages of Alaska
[4] due to the remoteness of the site. Furthermore, there are is-
sues associated with oil spills and storage of fuels [5]. There-
energy are being integrated with DEGs to help reduce the fuel
consumed by the DEGs.
This paper presents a model based on an existing hybrid elec-
tric power system for a remote location in the Alaskan commu-
nity of Lime Village. The input data to the model are acquired
using a remote terminal unit (RTU) that must first be installed at
the site. The RTU allows for remote data collection and system
control while also providing information necessary for mod-
eling the hybrid power system. The information from the RTU
can be processed using the model described in this paper. In this
way, the RTU and the model can be used to optimize the perfor-
mance of the hybrid power system.
MATLAB Simulink is used to model the system and apportion
the electrical production between the PV array and diesel-electric
generator. In general, the Simulink model can be used to study
the performance of any hybrid power system. Using Simulink,
other renewable energy sources, dynamic operation, and control
system strategies can be easily incorporated into the existing hy-
brid power system model to study the overall performance of the
system. Simulations are performed for three cases: 1) diesel only;
2) diesel-battery; and 3) PV with diesel-battery using a one-year
time period. The results of the simulations are used to perform
an economic analysis and predict the environmental impacts of
integrating a PV array into diesel-electric power systems for re-
mote villages. The economic part of the model calculates the fuel
consumed, the kilowatthours obtained per gallon of fuel supplied,
and the total cost of fuel. The environmental part of the model cal-
culates the CO , particulate matter (PM), and the NO emitted to
the atmosphere. These results are then utilized to calculate the en-
ergy payback, the simple payback time for the PV module, and the
avoided costs of CO , NO , and PM.
II. HYBRID POWER SYSTEM MODEL
A. General Model
In general, when two or more different sources of electricity
are connected to a common grid and operate hand in hand to
WIES et al.: SIMULINK MODEL FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Fig. 1. General hybrid power system model.
supply the desired load, the system becomes a hybrid electric
power system. A simple block diagram of a hybrid power system
is shown in Fig. 1. The sources of electric power in this hy-
brid system consist of a diesel generator, a battery bank, a PV
array, and a wind generator. The diesel generator is the main
source of power for many of the remote villages in Alaska [5]
and around the world. The output of the diesel generator is reg-
ulated ac voltage, which supplies the load directly through the
main distribution transformer.
The battery bank, the PV array, and the wind turbine are in-
terlinked through a dc bus. The RTU regulates the flow of power
to and from the different units, depending on the load. The in-
tegration of a RTU into a hybrid power system is important to
enhance the performance of the system [6]. The overall purpose
of the RTU is to give knowledgeable personnel the ability to
monitor and control the hybrid system from an external control
center. Since the hybrid systems of interest in this research are
located in remote areas, the ability for external monitoring and
control is of utmost importance. The RTU is interfaced with a
variety of sensors and control devices located at key locations
within the hybrid system. The RTU processes the data from
these sensors and transmits it to a control center. In addition, the
RTU is also capable of receiving control signals and adjusting
parameters within the system without the physical presence of
the operating personnel.
B. Lime Village Model
This paper investigates the integration of a PV array with a
diesel-battery hybrid electric power system located in Lime Vil-
lage, Alaska. The hybrid power system of Lime Village consists
of 21- and 35-kW diesel generators, 100 kWh (95 two-volt cells)
of valve-regulated lead acid batteries, and a 12-kW PV array.
The PV array consists of 8 kW of BP275 solar panels and 4
kW of Siemens M55 solar panels. Wind generation is not a vi-
able renewable energy source for Lime Village due to the low
wind speeds in this area. A 30-kVA bidirectional power con-
verter/controller is used to supply power to and from the bat-
693
teries and from the PV array. Figures from the Alaska Energy
Authority (AEA) show that the operating cost of fuel supplied
for the generators of Lime Village ranges from $2.80 per gallon
in summer to $4.80 per gallon in winter [4]. Due to the high cost
of fuel, it is desired that the diesel generators operate efficiently
and economically. The use of renewable energy in the form of a
PV array combined with regulated battery storage helps in con-
straining the use of the diesel generator while optimizing the
efficiency and economics of the system. Efforts are already un-
derway to install an RTU at Lime Village, further enhancing the
performance of the system.
III. SIMULATION MODEL
A model of a hybrid power system of Lime Village was
designed using MATLAB Simulink. The Simulink model was
developed so that it can be used to study the performance of any
hybrid power system. Using the -function in Simulink, blocks
representing other renewable energy sources can be easily
incorporated into the existing hybrid power system model.
Simulink also allows the dynamic operation and the control
system strategy to be incorporated into the hybrid power system
model to study the dynamic performance of the system. The
overall block diagram of the current system is shown in Fig. 2.
The model consists of nine different subsystems contained in
blocks. The Input Parameters block includes data files obtained
from the site. After the installation of the RTU, the model
will acquire the data directly from the RTU. This data can be
used by engineers and operators to evaluate and optimize the
performance of the system.
Sensors on the system are used to gather information, such
as the amount of sunlight incident upon the PV arrays, charge
level of the batteries, and important operating parameters of the
diesel generator. The voltage or current signals from these sen-
sors are transmitted to signal conditioning devices that convert
the signals to an instrumentation level. These signals are then
passed to analog input modules of the RTU and digitized for
processing. The processing consists of scaling the inputs and
694
Fig. 2. Simulink model of the Lime Village power system.
converting them to a meaningful unit. The data is then saved
within the memory of the RTU and unloaded to a database on a
central server at a location outside of the village at a user-speci-
fied time interval. The data are transferred through TCP/IP con-
nections and are usually accomplished through dial-up/ethernet
connections with the RTU. At this point, the data are placed in a
database and accessed via a web page or other methods and are
available as input to the model [7].
The input data files to the model are the system electrical load,
solar insolation values, ambient temperature, and the kilowatt
ratings of the different energy components. The Simulink model
developed here uses data from the manufacturer to calculate the
efficiency and the amount of fuel used for the DEG. Knowing
the above parameters, the Simulink model can be used to study
the performance of any hybrid power system.
After being processed by the Input Parameters block of the
model, this information is used by all of the other subsystems to
calculate efficiency, fuel consumption, and total cost of fuel.
The PV Model block is the model of the 12-kW PV array
installed at Lime Village. This block calculates the power avail-
able from the PV array, depending on the intensity of sunlight.
The -function written in MATLAB performs the following
tasks.
1) The total power available from the PV array (aligned
due south and tilted at a 15 angle) is calculated using
the solar insolation values, the total area of the col-
lector, and the efficiency of the solar collector. The
solar insolation values were obtained as the input of
the PV Model from the output of the Input Parame-
ters block. These input values were obtained using a
solar map developed by the National Renewable En-
ergy Laboratory (NREL). This map utilizes extrapo-
lations of 30-yr data from measurements at other lo-
cations combined with satellite data on cloud cover
[8]. The total collector area for the PV array was ob-
tained from the manufacturer data sheet. The efficiency
of commercially available solar collector is about 15%
[8]. In this project, a collector efficiency of 12% is as-
sumed.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 20, NO. 2, MAY 2005
2) The model compares the calculated PV power to the
required load. If the PV power is more than the load on
the system, the model checks the battery kilowatthours.
If the battery kilowatthours is less than 95% of its rated
kilowatthours, the model will send the excess available
power to charge the battery bank. On the other hand,
if the kilowatthours rating of the battery is more than
95% of its rated kilowatthours, the model will send
the excess power to the dump load. The dump load
consists of resistive banks that can adsorb excess power
available from the PV array, which can subsequently be
used to provide space heating. Lime Village does not
currently have dump load. If the PV power is less than
the load on the system, all of the power available from
the PV array will go to the load. The battery bank will
supply the remaining load. If the battery bank is unable
to supply the rest of the load, the load is passed to the
diesel generator. The diesel generator then supplies the
load and charges the battery bank simultaneously.
The hybrid power system is designed in such a way that the
PV array has the highest priority to supply the load. If the load
is not met by the PV power, the battery bank is used to supply
the required load. If the battery bank is less than 20% charged,
the controller sends the signal to start up the diesel generator.
The diesel generator is then used to supply the desired load and
charge the battery bank simultaneously. On the other hand, if
there is excess power available from the PV array, the excess
power is used to charge the battery bank. If the battery bank is
95% charged, the excess power is sent to a resistive dump load,
which can be used for space-heating purposes. In the Simulink
model, the roundtrip efficiency of the rectifier/inverter and the
internal loss in the battery bank per cycle was considered as
90%.
The Battery Model block consists of the battery bank and
controller. The Battery Model has the second highest priority
to supply the load. Once the RTU is installed at Lime Village,
it will regulate the power output of the diesel generator, the PV
array, and the battery bank through digital/analog output capa-
bilities that enable equipment to be switched “on” and “off.” The
control settings and set point configurations are programmed
WIES et al.: SIMULINK MODEL FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 695

into the memory of the RTU. These set points of the RTU can be manufacturer’s data sheet can be mathematically interpreted as
changed while the simulation is in progress in order to further follows:
optimize the system.
The -function in the Battery Model block performs the fol- lbs (3)
lowing tasks. Fuel consumed lbs
gallons (4)
1) The total battery voltage is calculated using the number
of battery cells ( ) and the voltage per cell as follows: where is the input power to the generator given in kilo-
watts; 7.1 is the factor that converts pounds (lbs) to gallons, de-
battery volt volt per cell (1) pending on the type of fuel that is used. For different types of
generators, the fuel consumption can be obtained from the man-
where volt per cell is obtained from the output of the ufacturer’s data sheet.
Input Parameters block. The Error block calculates the difference between the sup-
2) The model then compares the required load with the plied power and the required power. The error within the model
maximum capacity of the two generators. If the re- is calculated by
quired load exceeds the capacity of the two genera-
tors, then the model displays the message that the load Error power (5)
cannot be supplied with the available generators. If the
load is less then the maximum capacity of the two gen- where is the power supplied by the battery bank, is the
erators, then the model checks for the available kilo- power supplied by the diesel generators, is the power sup-
watthours and the mode (charging or discharging) of plied by the PV array, is the power delivered to the load, and
the battery bank. If the available kilowatthours of the is the power delivered to the dump load.
battery bank is greater than 20% and the battery is in The Error block also calculates the rms value of the error
the discharging state, then the battery energy will be power. The rms value of the error will depend on the time in-
used to supply the load. If the available kilowatthours terval over which the simulation is performed, the time incre-
of the battery bank is less than 20% of its rated kilo- ment between the two simulation steps, and the fluctuation in
watthours or if the battery bank is in the charging stage, load. The rms value of error is given by
then the energy from the diesel generator will be used
to supply the load and charge the battery bank simul- Instantaneous value
taneously. Error power rms (6)
The Generator Model block contains the manufacturer’s
specifications for the efficiency of the electric generator. where is the ratio of the simulation time to the time increment
Knowing the efficiency and the load on the generator, the power between the two simulation steps.
input to the generator can be calculated as The Calculate Other Parameters block calculates the param-
eters such as the total kilowatthours per gallon supplied by the
generator, fuel consumed in pounds and gallons, the total cost
(2)
of fuel (in U.S. dollars), the , particulate matter (PM), and
the emissions. The kilowatthours per gallon and total fuel
where is the load on the diesel generator. cost are calculated as
The Generator Model block is designed in such a way that the
diesel generators are always operating at 95% of their kilowatt kWh kWh
(7)
rating while operating in conjunction with the battery bank and gallon
the PV array. This way, the generators operate at their maximum
efficiencies and also give better displacement power factor. If
one generator is insufficient to supply the load, the second gen- cost
Total cost USD (8)
erator is turned “on.” In Lime Village, one generator is always gallon
sufficient to supply the load, while the other generator acts as a
where kWh is the total kilowatthours supplied by the diesel
back-up generator. If the model is used for other villages where
generator, and is the total fuel consumed (in gallons).
two generators are used to supply the load, the percentage load
The Display Parameters block is used to display all the calcu-
on both the generators is the same. Therefore, both generators
lated parameters, including the fuel consumption, the total cost
operate at 95% of their kilowatt rating.
of fuel, the kilowatthours per gallon, and the amount of green-
The Fuel Consumption Model block calculates the amount of
house gases emitted to the environment.
fuel required by the diesel engine to supply the load. The fuel
consumed by the engine depends on the load and the electrical
efficiency of the generator. The electrical efficiency is depen- IV. MODEL VALIDATON
dent on the displacement power factor of the load. If there are In Alaska, there is less sunlight available during the winter
two generators operating, the block will calculate the fuel re- months and, therefore, very few diesel-hybrid power systems
quired by each engine and also the total fuel required to supply that incorporate PV arrays. As a result, field data are not easily
the load. The plot for the fuel consumption obtained from the available for the PV with diesel-battery system to validate the
696
Fig. 3. Annual load profile for Lime Village.
Fig. 4. Solar insolation profile for Lime Village.
model. In order to validate the model, simulations were per-
formed for the PV with diesel-battery system for the load profile
shown in Fig. 3. This load profile was obtained by interpolating
and averaging a 24-h summer load profile and a 24-h winter load
profile obtained from Lime Village over a one-year time period.
Each data point represents a daily average, and a second-order
polynomial fit to the data is used, as shown in the figure.
The solar insolation profile for Lime Village is shown in
Fig. 4. A third-order polynomial fit to the data is used, as shown
in the figure. It can be observed from this plot that during
summer days, there is abundant sunlight; hence, the energy
available from the sun is distributed throughout the day. If there
is any extra power available from the PV array after supplying
the load, it is utilized to charge the battery bank.
The post-simulation analysis includes the comparison of re-
sults from the Simulink model with those predicted by Hy-
brid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER).
HOMER online was released in fall 2001 at NREL. HOMER
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 20, NO. 2, MAY 2005
is a computer model that designers can use to simulate and op-
timize standalone electric power systems. HOMER can model
any combination of wind turbines, solar PV panels, run-on-river
hydro, small modular biomass, conventional generators (diesel,
propane, and gasoline), and battery storage. The trial version
and description of HOMER are available in [8].
HOMER can be used to design a stand-alone power system
in a remote village, investigate the cost of powering an off-grid
house, and assess the potential of renewable energy. The com-
parison results of Simulink model with HOMER are described
in more detail in Section V-C.
V. SIMULATIONS AND RESULTS
Simulations were performed for three cases using the Lime
Village model and a one-year time period. The three cases
studied in this work include diesel-only system, diesel-battery
system, and PV with diesel-battery system.
Table I shows the costs of the different components installed
at Lime Village for the three cases. The costs of the different
components were obtained from the various manufacturers. The
engineering cost, commissioning, installation, freight, and other
miscellaneous costs were obtained from a report prepared by
the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) [4]. Due to the remoteness
of the site, the cost for transporting the various components is
relatively high.
Table II shows the results for the three cases. In this model,
the roundtrip efficiency of the rectifier/inverter and the internal
loss in the battery bank per cycle was considered as 90%. The
collector efficiency for the PV array is assumed as 12%. As men-
tioned in HOMER, the heating value of fuel is assumed to be
48.5 MJ/kg, and the density of fuel is assumed to be 840 .
The post-simulation analysis includes an economic and environ-
mental component illustrating the simple payback and avoided
cost of emission reductions using the PV array.
A. Economic Analysis
The economic analysis part of the simulation model involves
calculation of the simple payback time (SPBT) for the PV
module and calculation of energy payback time (EPBT) for
the PV array. In most of the remote villages, battery banks are
used as back-up sources for power. Therefore, the PV with
diesel-battery system is compared to the diesel-battery system
in the analysis of SPBT. The SPBT is given as
Excess Cost of PV system
SPBT (9)
Rate of saving
Using data from Table II
SPBT years
In order to calculate the EPBT for the PV array, it is essen-
tial to know the energy required in the construction of the PV
array (also called embodied energy). In [9], Knapp et al. de-
scribe a method to calculate the embodied energy of a PV array.
In this method, the total energy required is the sum of energies
WIES et al.: SIMULINK MODEL FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 697

TABLE I
COMPONENT AND INSTALLATION COSTS FOR LIME VILLAGE

TABLE II
COMPARISON OF RESULTS FOR LIME VILLAGE

required for raw materials and the energy required in the var- B. Environmental Analysis
ious processes involved to convert the raw materials into the PV The environmental analysis part of the model involves the
array. The embodied energy of a PV system is given by calculation of the avoided costs for , PM, and . The
figures for PM and obtained in Table II are based on the
kW (10) values obtained from the manufacturer. The emission of
and
kW 3.1 kg /kg fuel is based on the mass balance for the com-
EPBT (11) bustion of the fuel. In [10], Narula et al. describe a way of cal-
culating the avoided costs for . One way of reducing the
where kWh is the embodied energy, kW is the rated power of greenhouse gas emissions from electric power plants is by re-
the PV array, and is the energy generation rate of the PV array. moving the gases through the use of chemical or other processes.
For Lime Village, the PV array is rated to produce 12 kW, and Some DEGs have pollution control equipment to reduce emis-
from Table II, the value for is 9445 kWh/yr. sions. DEGs in most Alaskan villages are not currently required
to have emissions monitored. The cost associated with the re-
kW kWh moval processes is called removal cost (RC) and is described in
and
[10].
kWh
EPBT years The use of a PV array with the DEGs in Lime Village results
kWh
year in decreased emissions. The cost associated with the difference
698 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 20, NO. 2, MAY 2005

in the amount of emitted pollution is called the avoided cost. TABLE III
The avoided cost is calculated as A=P AND COE FOR VARIOUS CASES
COE COE
AC (12)

where
AC avoided cost ($/ton);
COE cost of electricity from low emission plant;
COE cost of electricity from high emission plant;
emission from high emission plant (ton);
emission from low emission plant (ton).
To calculate avoided cost, it is essential to calculate the cost of
electricity for each system. Therefore, it is necessary to know the
ratio for a system, where is the annual payment on a loan
whose principal is at an interest rate for a given period ( ).
Details of these calculations are described in [11]. The following
assumptions are used for the analysis presented here.
1) Interest rate . per pound for
2) Life-cycle period for PV years.
3) Life-cycle period for diesel battery system years.
4) Life-cycle period for diesel battery system when
operating in conjunction with PV years.
The higher life cycle period for the diesel-battery system
when operating in conjunction with the PV array is assumed
because in the PV with diesel-battery system, about 10% of the
load is supplied by the PV array. So, the life of the diesel-battery
system will increase. The formula for is given as
(13)
for PV array
Similarly, for other cases is calculated and tabulated in
Table III.
The annual cost of electricity for different systems is calcu-
lated as
COE (14)
and
COE (15)
where is the cost of the PV with diesel-battery system,
is the cost of diesel-battery system, and is the annual
cost of fuel.
Substituting the values from Table II
COE
COE
Similarly, COE is calculated as $61 735.
Using (12), the avoided costs for different emissions of
Table II are calculated and are listed in Table IV.
The first cost is in the range of estimates provided by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [12], which
has estimated the cost for capture at power stations to be in
the range of $30–$50 per ton of avoided . The California
Air Resources Board (CARB) [13] estimated a cost of about
TABLE IV
AVOIDED COST OF EMISSIONS
$25 per pound of PM avoided by retrofitting buses with diesel
particle filters (DPFs). CARB [14] also reported $23 and $13
and , respectively, as averages paid
for emissions offsets transactions in 35 California districts.
C. Comparison of Simulink Model With HOMER
Table V shows the comparison of the results of Lime Village
using the Simulink model with those predicted by HOMER.
It was observed that the efficiency of the diesel generator
is higher using the Simulink model. This is because in the
Simulink model, the battery bank has a longer charge/discharge
cycle. So, whenever the diesel generator is “on,” it operates
at a higher load and, hence, more efficiently. This is achieved
by sacrificing the life of the battery bank. So, the life of the
battery bank is less in the Simulink model as compared to that
of HOMER.
In HOMER, the energy generated by the diesel engine is
higher because the battery bank is designed to cycle between
40% and 82% of its kilowatthour rating rather than between 20%
and 95% in the Simulink model. The inverter and rectifier are
operating with much less efficiency in HOMER as compared
to the Simulink model (about 20% difference). In HOMER, the
DEG is loaded anywhere between 6.3–21 kW, with the average
load of 13.4 kW, and, hence, operates with a lower electrical ef-
ficiency than in the Simulink model. In the Simulink model, the
battery bank acts as a source of power. So. whenever the DEG
is “on,” it operates at 95% of its rated power—therefore, with a
higher electrical efficiency. If the load on the DEG is less than
95% of its rated power, the excess power is utilized to charge the
battery bank. It can also be observed that the efficiencies for the
DEG-battery and PV-DEG-battery are the same in the Simulink
analysis. In the above analysis, HOMER has the advantage with
a higher net present value (NPV) due to the longer life of the bat-
tery bank over the Simulink model. The battery bank is the most
expensive component of the system.
D. Overall Results
After performing the simulations for the three cases, it was
observed that case 3 provided superior results in terms of fuel
consumption for the diesel generator and the greenhouse emis-
sions. It was observed that the diesel generator operates most
efficiently for case 3, while the diesel-battery system in case 2
has the highest kilowatthours per gallon. In case 1, the entire
WIES et al.: SIMULINK MODEL FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
TABLE V
COMPARISON OF RESULTS FOR LIME VILLAGE WITH HOMER
load was supplied without the PV array and the battery bank,
leaving the load to be supplied by the diesel generator. Since the
diesel generator operates with the lowest load for the diesel-only
system, it is the least efficient system and has the lowest kilo-
watthours per gallon. In case 2, when the battery bank is dis-
charged, the diesel generator is used to charge the battery bank,
so eventually, the entire load is supplied with the help of the
diesel generator. In case 3, part of the load was supplied using
the PV array. As a result, there is substantial saving in the fuel
consumption by the diesel generator due to use of the battery
bank and the PV array with the diesel-only system. The LCC
and air emissions results of our Simulink model were compa-
rable to those predicted by HOMER.
VI. CONCLUSION
The preliminary results reported here demonstrate that the
integration of a PV array into a diesel-battery stand-alone hy-
brid power system reduces the operating costs and the green-
house gases and particulate matter emitted to the atmosphere.
The hybrid system has been in reliable operation since July
2001. A Simulink model of the PV with diesel-battery hybrid
power system installed at Lime Village, AK, was developed in
this project. The Simulink model can be used to study the per-
formance of any PV with diesel-battery hybrid power system
if the operating characteristics of the power system are known.
With few modifications, the model can be extended to incor-
porate other renewable energy sources. The incorporation of
additional renewable sources of energy, such as wind turbines
in this system, could further reduce fuel consumption. The dy-
namic performance and the control system strategy of the power
system can also be incorporated into the model.
699
The model was validated by comparing the results for sup-
plying an annual load profile with those predicted by HOMER.
The LCC and air emissions results of our Simulink model were
comparable to those predicted by HOMER. Although there is a
significant capital investment to purchase a PV system for this
application, the PV system may have acceptable 20-yr LCCs
for many remote locations. Furthermore, over its life cycle, the
PV hybrid power system will consume less fuel and emit less
, , and PM than the diesel-only system. If the external
costs associated with these emissions are taken into account, the
PV system discounted payback period will further decrease. Hy-
brid energy systems, which result in more economical and ef-
ficient generation of electrical energy, would not only enhance
the capability of automated and precision generation systems,
but would also help to extend the life of nonrenewable energy
sources.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would also like to thank E. Baumgartner of Mc-
Grath Power and Light for providing the information and data
from Lime Village, G. Hanson of Marathon Electric for pro-
viding the design specifications for the diesel-electric generator,
John Deere for providing the diesel engine specifications, and
GNB Industrial Power for providing the specifications for the
battery bank.
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[8] (2003). National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO. [Online].
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[9] PV Payback, 2000.
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700
Richard W. Wies (S’92–M’99) received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in
electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming, Laramie, in 1992, 1995,
and 1999, respectively.
He was a Department of Energy AWU Graduate Fellow at the University of
Wyoming Electric Motor Training and Testing Center during the 1993–1994
academic year, a Department of Energy EPSCOR Research Fellow during the
1995–1996 academic year, and an AWU Graduate Fellow at Pacific Northwest
National Laboratories during the summer of 1996. He has been an Assistant
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alaska Fair-
banks, Fairbanks, since 1999. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses
in electric power systems, electric machines, power electronics, digital signal
processing, and controls. His current research involves the application of hybrid
electric power systems for remote locations and the application of small-signal
stability analysis techniques for power systems.
Dr. Wies is a member of the IEEE Power Engineering Society, Tau Beta Pi,
and the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Ron A. Johnson received the B.Sc. degree from Brown University, Providence,
RI, in 1965 and the M.S. degree in 1966 and the Ph.D. degree in 1969 from
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, all in aerospace engineering.
He was with the Avco Systems Division in Wilmington, MA, from 1969 until
his arrival at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) in 1976. He is currently
a Professor of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering at UAF. His current
research interests include indoor air quality and sustainable energy systems.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 20, NO. 2, MAY 2005
Ashish N. Agrawal (S’02) received the B.E. degree in from Pune University,
Pune, India, in 1999 and the M.S. degree in from the University of Alaska Fair-
banks, Fairbanks,in 2003, both in electrical engineering. He is currently working
toward the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the University of Alaska
Fairbanks.
His current thesis research involves the development of a hybrid power system
models for cold climate applications. His work also includes contributions to
The Power Electronics Handbook (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2002).
Tyler J. Chubb (S’03) received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from
the University of Wyoming, Laramie, in 2001 and the M.S. degree in electrical
engineering from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, in 2004.
During his studies for the B.S. degree, he completed internships at Pacific
Northwest National Laboratories in Richland, WA. He also was an Engineer
at the Golden Valley Electric Association in Fairbanks, Alaska. He is currently
with the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Anchorage.