A Hybrid Solar-Wind Power

Generation system

extensively
concepts

used
in

to

illustrate

hands-on

electrical

laboratories

and

demonstrations in the Industrial Technology

curriculum.
This paper describes an analysis of
local PV-wind hybrid systems for supplying
electricity to a private house, farmhouse or a
small

company

with

electrical

power

depending on the need at the site. The major

system

components,

work

principle

and

specific working condition are presented in

this paper.

Introduction
Energy

Abstract:
Due to intermittent natural energy
resources and energy resources seasonal unbalance, a PV-wind hybrid electrical power
supply

system

was

developed

for

many

remote locations where a conventional grid

connection

is

inconvenient

or

expensive.

While the hybrid system is also applicable

with grid connection, owners are allowed to
sell excess electricity back to the electric
utility by using net meter.
The set-up consists of a photo-voltaic
solar-cell

array,

mast

mounted

wind

generator, lead-acid storage batteries, an

inverter unit to convert DC power to AC
power, electrical lighting loads and electrical
heating
boxes

loads, several fuse

and

associated

and junction

wiring,

and

test

instruments for measuring voltages, currents,

power factors, and harmonic contamination
data throughout the system. This hybrid
solar-wind

power

generating

system

is

important

has

role

in

always
human

played

and

an

economic

development and world peace. Since the

world

economic

resuscitation

and

boom,

world total energy annual consumption in

2002 has increased, while fossil fuel (i.e.
coal, oil, natural gas) provided three quarters
of the total. At current energy consumption
rate, proven coal reserves should last for
about 200 years, oil for approximately 40
years and natural gas for around 60 years.
With

the

contradiction

development
resource,

as

and
well

between

diminishing
as

to

rapid

fossil

avoid

fuel

pollutant

emissions or other environmental problems,

and not to involve the resulting healthy
hazard, we should consider the manner in
which we produce and consume energy for
sustainable development.
Renewable

energy,

i.e.,

energy

generated from solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydropower and ocean resources,

could increases diversity of energy supplies

contrast,

and offer us clean energy beyond all doubt.

especially in rural areas electricity grids are

The energy generated from wind and solar is

often non- existent or rudimentary, and all

much less than the production by fossil fuels,

forms of energy are usually very expensive.

however, electricity generation by utilizing PV

Here the PV modules and wind turbine can be

cells and wind turbine increases rapidly

highly competitive with other forms of energy

recent years, particularly in Germany, Japan,

supply. However, the fact that natural energy

the U.S., and Denmark.

resources

Photovoltaic (PV) cells are electronic

in

many

are

developing

intermittent

and

are

devices that are based on semiconductor

utilization

of

technology

energy systems. Any power system that

current

can

directly

produce

the

renewable

available

referred to as a hybrid power system: PV

commercially have an efficiency of over 17%,

panels, wind turbines, or diesel, propane,

and it is expected that in about 10 years

gasoline generators. For small loads, the

time module efficiencies will have raised to

most

over 20%.

hybrid system. PV and wind is good match,

modules

The

hybrid

to

incorporates two or more of the following is

PV

sunlight.

electric

led

best

silicon

from

an

so-called

has

storage

batteries

and

expensive,

countries,

now

Wind power is electricity produced by a

generator,

which

is

drove

by

turbine

common

combinations

are

PV-wind

because inland wind speeds tend to be lower

in

summer,

when

solar

energy

can

according to aerodynamics in flowing air.

compensate, and higher in winter, when

Wind power already becomes one of the

sunshine falls to very low levels.

fastest

growing

renewable

energy

In this paper, a PV-wind hybrid system

technologies around the world, a total of

will be presented that can supply electricity

31000MW of wind generating capacity had

to a private house, farm house or a small

been installed by the end of 2002 that is

company

almost four times the capacity at the end of

electrical power depending on the need at

1997.

the site where used. The goal of this study is

PV modules and wind turbines are now

widely

used

in

developed

countries

to

or

introduce

apartment

the

local

house

PV-wind

with

hybrid

to

systems working principle by reviewing one

produce electrical power in locations where

case where the system is connected to the

it might be inconvenient or expensive to use

grid.

conventional

grid

supplies,

homeowners

who

choose

energy

sources

prefer

to

while

the

other

renewable

connect

their

Special

Issues

of

Wind

turbines

and

Photo-Voltaic Cells

energy system to the grid as a huge battery

As the wind does not blow all the time

for some convenient grid-tied situation. In

nor does the sun shine all the time, solar and

wind power alone are poor power sources.

illustration

of

many

topics

traditionally

Hybridizing solar and wind power sources

covered in power electronics classes.

together with storage batteries to cover the

periods of time without sun or wind provides

System Analysis

a realistic form of power generation. This

1. Specific site conditions for PV-wind

variable

feature

generation

is

of

wind

different

turbine

from

power

hybrid system

conventional

Intermittent natural energy resources

fossil fuel, nuclear, or hydro-based power

and energy resources seasonal unbalance

generation. Wind energy has become the

are the most important reason to install a

least expensive renewable energy technology

hybrid energy supply system. The PV-wind

in existence and has peaked the interest of

hybrid system suits to conditions where sun

scientists and educators the world over.

light and wind has seasonal shifts i.e., in

summer the daytime is long and sun light is

Photovoltaic or PV cells, known commonly as

strong enough, while in winter the days are

solar cells, convert the energy from sunlight

shorter and there are more clouds, but there

into

is usually an increased wind resource that

DC

electricity.

advantages

over

PVs

other

offer

added

renewable

energy

can complement the solar resource.

sources in that they give off no noise and

The PV-wind hybrid systems

require practically no maintenance. PV cells

especially suit the remote location, which is

are

inconvenient

familiar

element

of

the

scientific

or

expensive

to

use

calculators owned by many students. Their

conventional grid supplies. The common type

operating

is connecting with battery storage. For PV

principles

relationships

unfortunately

governing
as

array, a true south direction without any

wind-

obstacles facing the sun is needed. For the

turbines. However, they operate using the

wind turbine, appropriate wind speed and

same semiconductor principles that govern

wind direction are key element to whole

diodes and transistors and the explanation of

system. The turbine should be mounded into

their functioning is straightforward and helps

non-turbulent wind higher than trees and

to make more intuitive many of the principles

without other obstacles. Enough space is

covered in semiconductor electronic classes.

needed to site the PV modules, wind turbine

Most industrial uses of electricity require AC

tower, and also to properly anchor the guy

power. Wind-turbines and PV cells provide DC

wires.

power. A semiconductor-based device known

2. System Components

pedagogically

are

and

simple

as

that

not
of

as a power inverter is used to convert the DC

power

to AC power. This device has a

relatively simple operation that is a vivid

In general, a local cost-efficient, safe,

and

durable

PV-wind

hybrid

system

is

composed of the core part (PV modules and

wind turbine); PV modules mounting and wind

DC-AC inverter changes low voltage direct

turbine

safe

current (DC) power, which is produced by the

equipment such as fuses, disconnects, and

PV or wind turbine or stored in the battery

lighting

and

into standard alternating current (AC) house

instrumentation; batteries, charge controller

power that is 120 or 240 VAC, 50 or 60 hertz.

regulator and backup power resource for

The modern sine wave Inverters supply

battery storage systems; and also connection

uninterruptible

wires, switching, and wall socket.

blackouts or brownouts. The inverters come

tower;

DC-AC

arrestor;

inverter;

meters

power,

i.e.

there

are

no

Photovoltaic (PV) modules convert

in sizes from 250 watts to over 8,000 watts.

sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity.

While there are also "modified sine wave"

Modules can be wired together to form a PV

inverters

array that is wiring modules in series the

handle most household tasks.

available voltage is increased and by wiring

However, this type of inverter may create a

in parallel, the available current is increased.

buzz

However either way, the power produced is

telephones, which can be an annoyance. The

the same since watts (power) equals voltage

better sine wave inverters have made great

time amperes. A typical PV module measures

strides in performance and price in recent

about 0.5 square meters (about 1.5 by 3.5

years. Inverters can also provide a utility

feet) and produces about 75 watts of DC

inter-tie between your system and the utility

electricity in full sun.

grid, allowing you to sell your excess energy

Wind turbine works the opposite of a fan.

to the utility for distribution by their grid.

Instead of using electricity to make wind, like

Many inverters also have built-in battery

a fan, wind turbines use wind to make

chargers to keep your batteries topped off

electricity. Most turbines have either two or

from either the grid or your generator.

three

wind

PV modules mounting and wind turbine

turbines are operated "upwind," with the

tower are engineered to withstand the PV

blades

other

modules and wind turbine. The PV modules

common wind turbine type is the two-bladed,

mounting can be a ground mount that works

downwind turbine. The wind turns the blades,

either on rooftops or the ground, or pole

which spin a shaft, which connects to a

mount for getting them up in the air. Both are

generator and makes electricity. Utility-scale

angle-adjustable so that PV array will face

turbines

750

the sun as near to perpendicular as possible.

kilowatts. Single small turbines, below 50

Many owners will adjust their mounting racks

kilowatts,

homes,

two to four times a year to get maximum

water

exposure as the sun changes its angle during

blades.

facing

These

into

range

in

are

telecommunications
pumping.

three-bladed

the

size

wind.

from

used
dishes,

The

50

for
or

to

in

that are cheaper

some

electronic

but can still

equipment

and

seasons. Or if the rooftop has a good angle to

the sun, the modules could be mounted

charge in their batteries and also how much

solidly to the roof without an adjustable rack.

electricity traffics between their own supply

Trackers are another PV mounting option,

systems to the utility grid for grid connection

which are pole mounts that automatically

situations. Some meters have more than one

adjust themselves so that the PV could face

channel to monitor two battery banks or a

the sun throughout the day. Because the wind

battery bank and a generating source for the

turbine should be mounded into non-turbulent

hybrid systems.

wind, a tall enough wind turbine tower is

Batteries store electrical energy produced

needed (9 m above anything within 120 m).

by RE resource in a reversible chemical

And there should also be enough space to

reaction. Most batteries employed in RE

properly anchor the guy wires.

systems use the lead-acid batteries typically

Safe equipment includes over-current and

encased in plastic and wired together in

lightning

Over-

series and parallel strings by the installer.

current protection components such as fuses

However, batteries do not belong inside the

and fused disconnects protect the system's

living space due to the dangerous chemicals

wiring and components in the event of short

in them and hydrogen and oxygen gas put out

circuits. Fusing protects from over-current

while being charged. Battery capacity is

situations,

and

safe

rated in amp-hours, which 1 amp-hour is the

shutdown

of

for

equivalent of drawing 1 amp steadily for one

maintenance and repair. Fuses and fused

hour. A typical 12-volt system may have 800

disconnects are rated by the amount of

amp-hours of battery capacity. This is the

current they can handle. They may be as

equivalent of 1,200 watts for eight hours if

small

supplying

fully discharged and starting from a fully

metering to as large as 400 amperes for

charged state. There are many brands and

supplying

types of batteries available for RE systems

protection

as

energy

the

components.

disconnects
system

few

components

amperes

inverter.

systems

are

allow

for

Many
in

renewable

areas

where

and the two most common batteries are the

thunderstorms and lightning are common,

L-16 and golf cart sizes

especially; the wind turbine is always the

Charge controller regulator prevents the PV

highest

array and wind turbine from over- charging

building

in

the

remote

area.

Commercial lightning arrestors are available

the

to

maintain

help

protect

RE

system

electronics

against the lightning.

Meters

and

instrumentation

battery.

Most

system

modern

controllers

voltage

regulation

electronically by varying the width of DC

can

help

pulses they send to the batteries (this is

owners keep track of important things like

called pulse width modulation or PWM). This

the battery voltage, the amount of power

means the wider the pulse; the more power

they are currently consuming, the state of

goes

to

the

batteries.

Another

category

called "shunt type" controllers divert excess

to the first step. Load analysis lists and adds

energy into a "shunt load." This type of

up all energy consumed by the owners

controller is more commonly used in wind or

appliances.

hydro

systems

affects the system structure, efficiency, and

generally should not be run open circuit.

cost. If the owners site matches the specific

Unlike a PV module, most wind and hydro

site conditions for PV-wind hybrid system,

turbines cannot be switched on and off by

then

the

PV

system requires know-how and experience.

point

You can often benefit by having a good

the

installing team of RE systems assisting you

maximum power available in the module by

to site, design, and install your renewable

adjusting current and voltage.

energy system

systems,

controller.

controllers
tracking."

has
They

since

new

these

generation

"maximum
take

of

power

advantage

of

the

RE

design

resource

and

measurement

installation

of

the

Backup power resource can come either

from a generator or from the utility grid when
too much energy is consumed or when there
has

not

been

enough

renewable

energy

coming into the system. However, for the

hybrid system, the latter situation seems
could be avoid, and a considerable energy
consuming style might assist to solve the
former problem

Fig. 2. A simple Hybrid Solar & Wind System

Methodology
In order to address the shortcomings
of
Fig.1. Steps for establishing a Hybrid Solar &
Wind Plant.

existing

instructional

electrical power

techniques

for

systems, the system is

designed and implemented with the following

goals:

3. System Establish Process

The
energy

process

supply

of

establishing

system (See Figure

be

completely

different

from

traditional electricity labs and to be

the

fresh and interesting.

1) is

extremely important step. Whichever system

To

To be intimately related to real world

will be installed, analyzing owners load and

industrial power issues such as power

renewable energy resource of the site ought

quality.

To

show

complex,

interrelated

stall mode, thus limiting the rotation

system that is closer to the real

speed of the alternator and preventing

world than the usual simple systems

damage in high kinds.

covered in educational labs.

To motivate learning by introducing

a sophisticated internal regulator that

such elements as environmental and

periodically checks the line voltage

economic

and

concerns

of

practical

interest to the students.

hybrid

unit

contains

corrects

for

low

voltage

conditions.

Establishment of a Wind/PV Hybrid Unit

The

Another feature of the wind turbine is

The solar panels are 12 VDC/unit were

complete

chosen for their ultra clear tempered

generating plants, a PV solar cell plant and a

glass that is manufactured for long-

wind-turbine

term durability. Figure 3 shows the DC

system.

These

two

sources

are

connected in parallel to a 120V AC line.

voltage measured across the 12 volt

The PV panel output is connected to a

DC bus where the wind turbine and PV

DC to AC inverter and is then supplied

arrays outputs are connected. A slight

from the inverters output to a single-

ripple in power regulation can clearly

phase, 120 VAC load. The overall

be seen. This ripple is a function of

project

the unpredictable nature of sunshine

structure

is

presented

in

Figure 2.

along with the dynamic effects of the

The wind turbine is installed at the

electrical load.

top of a steel tower that has a height

of 18.3 meters and a diameter of 8.9
cm.

The instrumentation panel depicted

monitors the outputs of the generator
using digital panel meters. One of the
low

maintenance

features

is

the

turbines brush-less alternator and an

internal governor. The actual systems

Fig. 3. The DC voltage measured across each

PV unit (12 V DC)

pictures are shown in Figure 2.

The turbines blades are made of a

One

of

the

largest

problems

in

composite

systems containing power inverters is

that will intentionally deform as the

power quality. This problem becomes

turbine reaches its rated output. This

serious if the inverter used in the

deformation effect changes the shape

system

of the blade, causing it to go into a

sinusoidal

carbon

fiber

reinforced

does

not

waveform

have

output

good
and

causes problems such as harmonic

contamination

and

poor

Future Study

regulation. According to the IEEE (a

Figure. 4. show the future direction of this

professional society which codifies

project.

such issues) standards, a maximum of

control bus will be added to the system.

3 to 4% total harmonic distortion may

Computer controlled relays will be added to

be

outputs.

allow all the major elements of the system to

However, many inverter outputs have

be switched in and out of the system through

much more harmonic distortion than

computer programs. The measurement bus

is allowed.

will be connected to all the major signals in

To monitor and store the voltage,

the system and will allow for computerizes

current,

data acquisition simultaneously of all the

allowed

from

inverter

power,

and

harmonic

computer

analyzers (types 39 and 41) are used

improvements will allow for the study

in

of more complex issues like power faults

system.

In

addition,

the

lightning. These improvements will also allow

laptop

the same benefits to instruction realized in

computer is interfaced to the system

electricity and electronics classes to be

via the power quality analyzers to

extended

store data in real-time.

classes.

of
A

to

control

and

voltages

These

panel

part

over

system.

caused

form

sudden

the

permanently mounted AC/DC digital

meters

by

in

and

major

the

signals

measurement

contamination data, two power quality

systems instrumentation.

voltage

like

instrumentation

Voltage sags may cause a crucial

damage

to

high

precision

measurement and protection devices,

especially

computer

equipment

present in many highly automated

industrial plants.

The AC filter is a circuit made up of a

resistor

(R),

capacitor
commonly

inductor

(C).

(L),

Such

installed

and

filters
in

a
are

industrial

situations to remedy power quality

problems.

The inverter is of a six-pulse type and

the inverter and the control circuit
models are both standard models in
the PSCAD/EMTDC software package.

Fig. 4. Block Diagram of Future Research

Conclusions and Recommendations

Obviously, a complete hybrid power

system of this nature may be too expensive
and too labor intensive for many Industrial

Technology Departments. However, many of

Renewable Energy Energy

the same benefits could be gleaned from

Technology (Physics).

having

some

example

subset

PV

of

panel,

the

system,

batteries,

and

for

2.

an

Power for a sustainable future,

inverter, or even just a PV panel and a DC

motor. The
especially

enhancements
in

making

to

instruction,

electrical

power

measurements more physical, intuitive, and

real world are substantial and the costs and
labor involved in some adaptation of the
ideas in this paper to a smaller scale setup
are reasonable.
The use of solar and wind hybrid power
generation is an especially vivid and relevant
choice for students of electrical Technology
as these are power sources of technological,
political,

and

economic

importance

in

state. In other places, other power sources

could

be

used.

For

example

hybrid

combinations of wind power, solar power,

geothermal power, hydroelectric power, tidal
power, biomass generated power, power from
incineration of solid wastes, and many other
technologies could be considered depending
on local interests and resources. The key
elements of this test bed concept presented
in this paper are two or more renewable
power sources connected to a power grid
with complex electrical interactions.

Reference:
1.

LOCAL PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV)-WIND

HYBRID SYSTEMS WITH BATTERY
STORAGE OR GRID CONNECTION,
Yang, Dayu Masters Programme in

Godfrey Boyle, Renewable energy:

Oxford University Press, 2004

3.

Non Conventional Energy Sources,

C L Wadhwa