Multi-Objective Optimization and Design of Photovoltaic-Wind Hybrid System for Community Smart DC Microgrid

Renewable energy sources continues to gain popularity. However, two major limitations exist that prevent widespread adoption: availability of the electricity generated and the cost of the equipment. Distributed generation, (DG) grid-tied photovoltaic-wind hybrid systems with centralized battery back-up, can help mitigate the variability of the renewable energy resource. The downside, however, is the cost of the equipment needed to create such a system. Thus, optimization of generation and storage in light of capital cost and variability mitigation is imperative to the financial feasibility of DC microgrid systems. PV and wind generation are both time dependent and variable but are highly correlated, which make them ideal for a dual-sourced hybrid system. This paper presents an optimization technique base on a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) which uses high temporal resolution insolation data taken at 10 seconds data rate instead of more commonly used hourly data rate. The proposed methodology employs a techno-economic approach to determine the system design optimized by considering multiple criteria including size, cost, and availability. The result is the baseline system cost necessary to meet the load requirements and which can also be used to monetize ancillary services that the smart DC microgrid can provide to the utility at the point of common coupling (PCC) such as voltage regulation. The hybrid smart DC microgrid community system optimized using high-temporal resolution data is compared to a system optimized using lower-rate temporal data to examine the effect of the temporal sampling of the renewable energy resource.