A new approach to hybrid renewable energy: Boosting economic and environmental efficiency with smart management in arid and desert environments

This paper presents the development and optimization of a hybrid energy system integrating solar and wind power with diesel generators as a backup, specifically tailored for arid, semi-arid, and desert climates. The system is supported by a dual-phase strategy that combines intelligent load management with optimized energy dispatch. The framework's performance was evaluated using HOMER Pro, genetic algorithms (GA), and particle swarm optimization (PSO). Applied to three regions in Morocco (Tah, Tichla, and Laabada), the proposed design yielded energy cost reductions of 28.26% in Tah, 21.48% in Tichla, and 20.62% in Laabada. Concurrently, maximum diesel reliance decreased by up to 98.81%, resulting in a 99.93% reduction in CO 2 emissions. The proposed approach addresses climatic constraints in harsh environments by providing a flexible and reliable design suited for harsh environments. These results demonstrate that integrating prioritized load scheduling with dispatch optimization provides a scalable framework for sustainable off-grid applications.