The global transition toward renewable energy has intensified interest in hybrid energy solutions that combine solar and wind power to enhance sustainability and reliability. Several studies have examined such integrated systems, however, most existing designs remain expensive, visually unsuitable for public spaces, and lack real-time monitoring or optimization capabilities, particularly in developing nations such as Bangladesh. Despite Bangladesh’s favorable solar irradiance and moderate wind potential, rural and urban public areas lack an efficient, decorative, and smart energy infrastructure. To address this gap, we propose a novel IoT-enabled hybrid solar wind energy tree tailored for public and rural settings in Bangladesh. Unlike conventional solutions, our proposed design integrates both energy sources into a visually appealing and self-sustaining structure capable of live monitoring and remote management. The system uses low-cost hardware (Arduino Nano, ESP8266, INA226 sensors) and simulation tools (COMSOL Multiphysics for structural integrity, HOMER Pro for cost analysis and MATLAB Simulink for performance modeling) using MPPT. A prototype was implemented for economic evaluation under site-specific conditions in Rajbari, Bangladesh (23°40. 8′N, 89°31. 3′E) demonstrating a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) 0. 11/kWh to 0. 18/kWh for a single unit, which is approximately 50% lower than a standalone solar system. The community-scale configuration achieved a daily energy generation of up to 165 kWh under optimal conditions with an LCOE of 0. 2997/kWh. This integrated solution offers a scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly pathway to decentralized energy access in developing regions.
Eva et al. (Wed,) studied this question.