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APPLIED
ENERGY
Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987
www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Design and techno-economical optimization for hybrid

PV/wind system under various meteorological conditions
S. Diaf a,*, G. Notton a, M. Belhamel b, M. Haddadi c, A. Louche a
a

Universite de Corse CNRS UMR 6134, Centre Scientique de Vignola, Route des Sanguinaires, F-20000 Ajaccio, France
b
Centre de Developpement des Energies Renouvelables, B.P. 62 16340 Bouzareah, Algiers, Algeria
c
Ecole Polytechnique dEl harrach, Algiers, Algeria
Received 4 December 2007; received in revised form 16 February 2008; accepted 17 February 2008
Available online 2 April 2008

Abstract
The optimal design of the renewable energy system can signicantly improve the economical and technical performance
of power supply. In this paper, the technical-economic optimization study of a stand-alone hybrid PV/wind system
(HPWS) in Corsica Island is presented.
Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to estimate the appropriate dimensions of a stand-alone HPWS that
guarantee the energy autonomy of a typical remote consumer with the lowest levelised cost of energy (LCE). A secondary
aim is to compare the performance and the optimal sizing of two system congurations. Finally, to study the impact of the
renewable energy potential quality on the system size, the optimum dimensions of system are dened for ve sites in Corsica Island. In this context, a complete sizing model is developed, able to predict the optimum system conguration on the
basis of LCE. Accordingly, an integrated energy balance analysis is carried out for the whole time period investigated.
The simulation results indicate that the hybrid system is the best option for all the sites considered in this study, yielding
lower LCE. Thus, it provides higher system performance than PV or wind systems alone. The choice of the system conguration type aects the state of charge variation prole, especially at low wind potential sites, while the system size and
the LCE are signicantly inuenced. It is shown that the LCE depends largely on the renewable energy potential quality.
At high wind potential site, more than 40% of the total production energy is provided by the wind generator, while at low
wind potential sites, less than 20% of total production energy is generated by the wind generator.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hybrid system; Optimum system sizing; Energy balance; Cost analysis

1. Introduction
The absence of an electrical network in remote regions and the prohibitively high connection cost-due to
large distances and irregular topography lead often the various organizations to explore alternative solutions.
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 495524152; fax: +33 495524141.

E-mail addresses: sdiaf@hotmail.com (S. Diaf), gilles.notton@univ-corse.fr (G. Notton), mbelhamel@cder.dz (M. Belhamel),
Mourad_haddadi@yahoo.fr (M. Haddadi), alain.louche@univ-corse.fr (A. Louche).
0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2008.02.012

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

969

Stand-alone hybrid systems have turned into one of the most promising ways to handle the electrication
requirements of these regions.
Corsica is the smallest and the most mountainous of the three big occidental Mediterranean islands with a
surface of 8680 km2.
Today, the Corsica total installed power capacity of about 600 MW is not enough to meet the total power
requirements. Increased rate of electric energy consumption and numerous existing isolated consumers constitute one of the largest problems being encountered by the electric company in Corsica Island. In order to cope
with the increasing electric consumption trends, it is desirable to explore every possible avenue for generating
more energy. The choice of diesel power generation has been considered for a long time as the best solution for
the electrication of remote and isolated areas.
Nowadays, due to international policy and concerns on environmental issues (Kyoto Protocol, reduction of
CO2 emissions, European Directive on renewable energy sources, etc.), generation of electrical power by
means of renewable energy sources has gained an increased interest and becomes one of the most interesting
and environmental friendly technological solutions.
Corsica Island is blessed with good level of solar irradiation and enough important wind potential. This
situation makes that a considerable amount of Corsica energy requirements may be tapped from hybrid combination of wind and solar energy.
In this context, the present study investigates the possibility of using stand-alone renewable power system to
satisfy the energy load requirements. Therefore, our primary objective is to determine the optimum dimensions of a stand-alone hybrid PV/wind system that guarantees the energy autonomy of a typical remote consumer. Our secondary aim is to compare the performance and the optimal sizing of dierent system
congurations on various sites. In this study, two system congurations are analysed in order to show the
impact of the system conguration type on the system performances. The rst conguration corresponds to
the hybrid PV/wind system in which both wind and PV generators present the primary source of energy.
In the second one, the wind generator is taken as the primary source of energy and the PV generator as
the secondary source of energy.
To analyse the impact of the renewable energy potential quality on the system size, the optimum dimensions of system are dened for ve sites located in Corsica Island (Table 1). This paper is organized as follows:






Description of the hybrid system congurations;

Estimation of the renewable energy potential;
Hybrid system modelling;
Sizing and economic optimization methodology;
Simulations results.

2. Description of the hybrid PV/wind system congurations

Taking advantage of the good solar and wind potential of Corsica Island, a stand-alone hybrid PV/wind
system is proposed in order to meet the electricity demand of remote consumers. The proposed hybrid PV/
wind system (Fig. 1) consists of a PV generator, a wind generator, a battery storage system, a DC/DC converter, an AC/DC converter and DC/AC inverter able to meet the consumption peak load demand.

Table 1
Geographical data for the selected stations
Site

Longitude

Latitude

Altitude (m)

Ajaccio
Calvi
Ersa
Figari
Solenzara

8440 2700 E
8450 3800 E
9230 0400 E
9080 0200 E
9220 3900 E

41550 2900 N
42340 0000 N
42580 2700 N
41290 1600 N
41500 0400 N

4
57
104
22
17

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S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of hybrid PV/wind system congurations with battery storage: (a) without UPS, (b) using UPS.

In this study, two types of system congurations are considered:

The rst corresponds to the hybrid PV/wind system conguration in which the wind generator is connected
to the load via the AC/DC converter and the DC/AC inverter to meet the AC load (Fig. 1a). The second one
concerns the system conguration that permits to the energy produced by the wind generator to be sent
directly to load via an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and the energy surplus is transformed to DC current and it is subsequently stored in the batteries (Fig. 1b). The UPS is used to stabilize the wind turbine output as well as to protect the sensitive devices from undesired power uctuations.
3. Renewable energy potential of Corsica Island
As mentioned already, Corsica Island is blessed with good insolation levels: the annual average daily value
of solar radiation is about 4.5 kW h/m2.
On the other hand, this region is characterized by a considerable wind potential which varies from site to
site: Ersa has the highest annual average wind speed (7.1 m/s), Calvi with 3.9 m/s, Figari (5.3 m/s) and Ajaccio

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

Ersa
Figari
Calvi

24000

Ajaccio
Solenzar
a

Solar Irradiation

6000

18000

4000

12000
Wind energy

6000

2000

Daily wind ener gy (Wh/m2)

Daily Solar Irradiation (Wh/m2)

8000

971

0
1

10

11

12

Month
Fig. 2. Complementarity of renewable energy sources.

and Solenzara sites have the lowest wind speed 3.5 and 3.1 m/s, respectively.The wind speed values are referenced to a height of 10 m.
In Fig. 2, the monthly average daily solar radiation and wind energy potential are plotted. We note that the
ve sites have almost similar solar potential, while their wind potential is quite dierent. The annual wind
energy potential varies between 116 kW h/m2 for Solenzara against 845 kW h/m2 for Ersa. The complementary nature of the two renewable energy sources appears clearly for Ersa and in a lesser extend for Figari, while
for Ajaccio, Calvi and Solenzara, this complementary nature does not really exist.
4. Modelling of hybrid PV/wind system components
The modelling of the system plays an important role in the sizing calculation. For an HPWS with storage
battery, four main subsystems are included, the PV and wind systems, the inverter and the battery storage. The
dierent modelling steps are summarized in the following sections.
4.1. Photovoltaic system model
In this study, the PV power generation simulation model consists of two parts, solar radiation on PV module surface and PV generator model.
4.1.1. Solar radiation on PV module surface
The PV module is placed at any slope angle, then the horizontal solar radiation data must be converted into
tilted solar global radiation.
The total solar radiation on a titled surface Gb is calculated by the following expression [1]:
Gb Gb;b Gr;b Gd;b

where Gb,b, Gr,b and Gd,b are the hourly beam, reected and sky diuse radiation on the tilted surface.
To estimate the titled diuse radiation, a combination of two models is used: CLIMED2 model [2] to
calculate the horizontal diuse component from global one and the Klucher model [3] to compute the tilted
diuse radiation from horizontal diuse.

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S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

4.1.1.1. The horizontal diuse component. The CLIMED2 model [2] is utilized to estimate the diuse solar radiation on an horizontal surface. This model uses the diuse fraction correlation dened as follows:
2

f Gdh =Gh
The diuse fraction correlation is represented by the following expressions:
8
for k 6 0:21
>
< f 0:995  0:081k
2
3
f 0:724 2:738k  8:32k 4:967k for 0:21 < k 6 0:76
>
:
f 0:180
for k > 0:76

where k is the clearness index. (k = Gh/G0h) and G0h is the horizontal extraterrestrial solar radiation.
4.1.1.2. The titled diuse component. The Klucher model [3] is utilized to estimate the diuse radiation on the
module surface:
 
 
 


b
3 b
Gd;b Gdh 0:5 1 cos
4
1 F sin
1 F cos2 h sin3 hZ
2
2
where h is the angle of incidence, hZ is the zenith angle and F is the modulating function given by:
F 1  Gdh =Gh 2 .
4.1.1.3. The titled beam radiation. The beam radiation on the titled surface can be simulated by the following
expression:
Gb;b Gh  Gdh

cos h
cos hZ

4.1.1.4. The reected radiation. Considering that the reection is isotropic and the beam and diuse radiation
reectances are identical, the hourly radiation reected by the ground is
1
Gr;b qGh 1  cos b
2

where b is the slop angle of the PV module and q is the albedo (taken equal to 0.2).
In Fig. 3, the method used is illustrated.

Second step
Klucher [3]

Global horizontal
radiation
First step
CLIMED2 [2]

Diffuse tilted
radiation Id,

Diffuse horizontal
radiation

I r, =

Ib = I

Id

Beam horizontal
radiation Ib
Ib, = Ib rb

Beam tilted
radiation Ib,

Global tilted
solar radiation

measured

calculated

1
I (1 cos )
2

Final objective

Fig. 3. How to obtain tilted solar radiation data.

Reflected tilted
radiation I r;

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

973

4.1.2. Photovoltaic generator model

The photovoltaic module performance is highly aected by the weather, especially the solar irradiance and
the PV module temperature. In this paper, a simplied simulation model is used to estimate the PV module
performance.
For estimating the PV generator output, the solar radiation available on the module surface, the ambient
temperature and the manufacturers data for the PV module are used as model inputs. The calculation method
is given below.
The output power of the PV generator Pg is given by the following equation [4]:
P g gg  Ag  Gb

where gg is the PV generator eciency, Ag is the total area of the PV generator (m2) and Gb represents the solar
radiation on tilted module plane (W/m2). The tilt angle of the PV module is considered equal to the site
latitude.
The PV generator eciency is given by [5]
gg gr gpc 1  bT c  T cref 

where gr is the reference module eciency, gpc is the power conditioning eciency (this eciency is equal to 1
if a perfect maximum power point tracker is used), b is the generator eciency temperature coecient, Tcref is
the reference cell temperature (C) and Tc is the cell temperature (C) which can be estimated from the ambient
temperature Ta (C) and the solar radiation Gb as follows:


NOCT  20
Tc Ta
9
Gb
800
NOCT is the normal operating cell temperature (C). Ta,NOCT = 20 C and Gb,NOCT = 800 W/m2, for a wind
speed of 1 m/s.
4.2. Wind turbine system model
There are several existing models for the estimation of wind turbine power, such as the linear model [6,7],
the model based on Weibull parameters [8,9] and the quadratic model. Choosing a suitable model is very
important for wind turbine power simulation. In this paper, the power output of a wind generator is approximated by a quadratic equation as follows [10]:
9
8
V 2 V 2cin
>
>
>
>
P
V
<
V
<
V
r
cin
rat
2
2
=
< V rat V cin
10
P wg V P r
V
6
V
<
V
rat
cou
>
>
>
>
;
:
0
V 6 V cin and V P V cou
where Pr is the rated power; Vcin is the cut-in wind speed; Vrat is the rated wind speed and Vcou is the cut-o
wind speed.
In this study, the adjustment of the wind prole for height is taken into account by using the power law that
has been recognized as a useful tool to model the vertical prole of wind speed. The equation used is

a
H
V V ref
11
H ref
where V is the wind speed (m/s) measured at the hub height H (m); Vref is the wind speed (m/s) measured at the
reference height Href (m) and a is the wind speed power law coecient. A typical value of 1/7 for low roughness surfaces and well exposed sites [11,12], is used in this study.
4.3. Modelling of battery system
During any hour, the excess power generated by the PV and wind generators can be utilized for charging
the batteries whereas the stored energy can be discharged whenever there is a deciency in power generation.

974

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

When the power generated, by both the wind turbine and the PV array is insucient and the storage is
depleted, the load will not be satised. Therefore, the dierence between total energy generated and load
demand energy, decides whether battery is in charging or discharging state.
During the charging process, the available battery bank capacity at the time t can be calculated as follows:
For the system conguration (Fig. 1a) [13]:


P load t
C bat t C bat t  1 P pv tgcdd P acd tgcw 
12
gcha Dt
ginv
For the system conguration in which the wind turbine is taken as the primary source of energy (Fig. 1b), two
cases can be considered.
First, when (Pwg P Pload), the available battery capacity is computed as follows:
C bat t C bat t  1 P pv tgcdd P wg t  P load tgcad gcha Dt
Second, when (Pwg(t) < Pload(t)), the battery capacity is given by



P load t  P wg t
C bat t C bat t  1 P pv tgcdd 
gcha Dt
ginv

13

14

where Cbat(t) and Cbat(t  1) are the available battery bank capacity (W h) at the time t and (t  1), respectively, Pload(t) is the power consumed by the load at the time t, Dt is the simulation time step (Dt = 1 h), gcdd
and gcad are the DC/DC and AC/DC converter eciencies, respectively and gbat is the battery eciency during
discharging process, the battery discharging eciency was set equal to 1 and during charging, the eciency
ranging from 0.65 to 0.85, depending on the charging current [9,14].
During the discharging state, the storage battery capacity is computed as follows.
For the conguration (Fig. 1a):
!


t
P pv tgcdd P acd tgcw  P load
ginv
C bat t C bat t  1
Dt
15
gdech
For the conguration (Fig. 1b):
C bat t C bat t  1




1
P load t  P wg t
P pv tgcdd 
Dt
gbat
ginv

16

In all cases the storage battery capacity is subject to the following constraints:
C bat min 6 C bat t 6 C bat max

17

where Cbat max and Cbat min are the maximum and minimum allowable storage capacities. Cbat min is determined
by the maximum allowable depth of battery discharge (DOD) as follows:
C bat min DOD  C batn

18

Like all chemical processes, the battery capacity is dependent on temperature. Generally, the battery capacity
changes can be expressed by using the temperature coecient dc [15]:
C bat C batn 1 dc T bat  298:15

19

where Cbat is the available or practical capacity of the battery when the battery temperature is Tbat; Cbatn is the
nominal capacity of the battery, which is the value of the capacity given by the manufacturer as the standard
value that characterizes this battery and dc is the temperature coecient. A value of dc = 0.6% per degree, is
usually used unless otherwise specied by the manufacturer [15].
4.4. Inverter model
The conversion eciency of the inverter is dened as the ratio of the output power, Pout, to the input power,
Pin and is given by the following equation:

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

ginv

P out
P in

975

20

The input power can be written as a function of output power:

P in P out P loss

21

where Ploss is the power loss which can be described in good approximation by a constant p0 independent of
the load and a second one which includes all load dependent losses [16,17]:
P loss p0 kp2

22

The inverter equation can then be rearranged to the following form:

p
ginv
p p0 kp2

23

where p is the ratio between the inverter output and nominal powers (p = Pout/Pn), and the constants p0 and k
can be determined using the following equations [16,17]:

2
1 10
1
1

9 ; k
 p0  1
24
p0
99 g10 g100
g100
with g10 and g100 are the eciencies at 10% and 100% of the inverter nominal power, respectively, generally
provided by the manufacturer.
5. Criteria for system sizing and evaluating
In order to select an optimal combination of a stand-alone HPWS to meet the demand, evaluation may be
carried on the basis of reliability and economics of power supply. The commonly used methodologies for the
system evaluation as follows.
5.1. Technical criteria
Due to the intermittent nature of solar radiation and wind speed, the power system reliability analysis has
been considered as an important step in any system design process. In this study, the reliability of the system is
expressed in terms of loss of power supply probability (LPSP).
The LPSP is dened as the ratio of all energy decits to the total load demand during the considered period.
This can be dened as [14]
,
T
T
X
X
LPSP
DEt
P load tDt
25
t1

t1

where DE(t) represents the decit energy for hour t. It occurs when the total energy available for a time interval [(t  1), t] and the energy stored in batteries at the beginning of this interval are insucient to satisfy the
load demand for that time period.
At any time the energy decit can be expressed as follows:
DEt P load t  P tot tDt

26

where Ptot(t) is given for the two system congurations (Fig. 1) as follows:The system conguration (Fig. 1a)


P tot t P pv t P wg tDt C bat t  1  C bat min  ginv
27
The system conguration (Fig. 1b)


P tot t P wg Dt P pv tDt C bat t  1  C bat min  ginv

28

976

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

Using the above-developed objective function according to the LPSP technique, a set of system congurations,
which satisfy the system power reliability requirements, can be obtained. The optimal one is subsequently predicted on the basis of the minimum LCE.
5.2. Cost analysis
Since more concerns are given to the lowest energy cost in power systems, the economic analysis of the
hybrid system has been made and the concept aspects have also been taken into account for optimization
of the system size. In this study, the economical approach is based on the LCE determined as the ratio of
the total annualized cost of the system to the annual electricity delivered by the system.
The following expression has been used to estimate LCE delivered by an HPWS [18]:
LCE

TAC
Etot

29

where TAC and Etot represent, respectively, the total annualized cost, and the annual total energy.
The total annualized cost is calculated by taking into consideration the present value of costs (PVC) and the
capital recovery factor (CRF):
TAC PVC CRF

30

For a given discount rate, d, and useful lifetime, T, the CRF is dened as [18]
T

CRF

d1 d
T
1 d  1

31

According to the studied system, the present value of costs is composed of the initial cost (IC), the present
value of maintenance cost (MC) and the present value of replacement cost (RC).
5.2.1. The initial cost
The initial cost of each system component consists of the component price, the cost of civil work, installation and the connections. In this study, the civil work and installation costs are taken as 40% of PV generator
price for PV part and 20% of wind generator price for wind part.
5.2.2. The present value of replacement cost
The present value of system component replacement cost is the present value of all the replacement costs
occurring throughout the system lifetime. In this study, the wind generator, the battery and the inverter need
to be replaced periodically during the system lifetime. The other system components are assumed to have the
system life.
The present value of replacement cost can be determined as follows [19]:
 Ti
N rem 
X
1 g1 N rem 1
RC U c C n
32
1d
i1
where Cn is the nominal capacity of the component (battery bank (W h)inverter (W)wind generator (W)), Uc
is the unit component cost (battery ($/W h)inverter ($/W)wind generator ($/W)), g1 is the ination rate of
component replacements and Nrem is the number of component replacements over T years.
5.2.3. The present value of maintenance cost
The present value of maintenance costs (25 years of maintenance) of the hybrid system is expressed as [19]
C m C m0 T

33

where Cm0 represents the maintenance cost in the rst year. It can be expressed as a fraction m of the initial
cost:
C m0 m  IC

34

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

977

Table 2
Price, maintenance cost and lifetime of system components
Component

Price (US$/W)

Maintenance cost in the rst year %

Lifetime (year)

PV module
Wind generator
Inverter
Battery bank

4.84
3.000
0.713
0.190

1%
3%
1%
0%

25
20
10
4

800

of
of
of
of

price
price
price
price

Spring-Autumn (3844 Wh/day)

Summer (3436 Wh/day)
Winter (4230 Wh/day)

700

Load power (W)

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
0

12

16

20

24

Time (h)
Fig. 4. Hourly load prole.

4500

Ajaccio

Calvi
Solenzara

Ersa
Figari

4000

PV generator power (W)

3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Wind turbine power (W)

Fig. 5. Combinations of PV and wind capacities for the desired LPSP of 0% for dierent sites (three days storage).

978

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

In this study, m is assumed to be 1% of the initial cost for PV generator and inverter, and 3% of the initial cost
for wind generator. For battery storage and other components, the annual maintenance cost is considered to
be zero. T is the system life in years (25 years).
The annual discount rate is considered as 8%. The price, maintenance cost and lifetime of the system components are given in Table 2 [20].
6. Results and discussion
The present analysis is applied to given load distribution assumed to be installed at ve selected sites located
in Corsica Island (Table 1).

5000

2 days' storage
3 days's storage

4 days' storage
5 days's storage

4.00

6 days' storage

3.50
4000

PV generator power (W)

3.00

3000

2.50

Cost
PV power

2.00
2000

1.50
1.00

1000

Levelised cost of energy ($ /kWh)

Site: Ajaccio

0.50
0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

0.00
4000

Wind turbine power (W)

5000

2 days' stoarge
3 days' storage

4 days' storage
5 days' storage

4.00

6 days' storage

3.50
4000

PV generator power (W)

3.00
2.50

3000

2.00
Cost

2000

1.50
1.00

1000

Levelised cost of energy ($/kWh)

Site: Ersa

r
PV powe

0.50
0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

0.00
4000

Wind turbine power (W)

Fig. 6. System congurations and levelised cost of energy for LPSP = 0%: (a) Ajaccio, (b) Ersa.

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

979

6.1. System optimal sizing results

After a thorough analysis of the available detailed renewable energy resources (Fig. 2), the above described
hybrid system model is applied to estimate the optimum hybrid system for a remote consumer case (Fig. 4).
In Fig. 5, the curves (PV power capacity versus the wind power capacity and for three days storage) are
summarized for the dierent sites considered in this study. Each combination on each of those curves guarantees one years energy autonomy for the investigated site.
The simulation results show that the available renewable energy resources quality in a candidate region is
one of the most important parameters dening the main dimensions of stand-alone HPWS. Therefore, the

8000

4.0

Configuration (with UPS)

Configuration (without UPS)

Wind turbine (600 W)

3.0

PV generator power (W)

6000
Cost

5000
2.0

4000
3000

Power

2000

1.0

Levelised cost of energy ($/kWh)

7000

1000
0

0.0
1

Battery storage (days)

8000

4.0

Configuration (with UPS)

Configuration (without UPS)

7000

3.5

PV generator power (W)

6000

3.0
Cost

5000

2.5

4000

2.0

3000

1.5

Power

2000

1.0

1000

0.5

Levelised cost of energy ($/kWh)

Wind turbine (600 W)

0.0
1

Battery storage (days)

Fig. 7. The impact of system conguration choice on the system sizing and cost: (a) Ajaccio, (b) Ersa.

980

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

system dimensions are signicantly reduced as the quality of the available renewable energy resources is
improved.
As it can be seen in Fig. 5, there is a considerable size of the hybrid system between the dierent sites. More
specically, an almost 400% PV generator increase is necessary to guarantee the energy autonomy of the system located at Ajaccio in comparison with that located at Ersa.
On the other hand, this comparative analysis shows that at Ajaccio and Solenzara, the size of the system
congurations that guarantee a zero LPSP can have the same size, since they have almost the same renewable
energy potential.
Applying the technical and economical constraints, the optimal HPWS combination that guarantees a zero
LPSP with the lowest LCE can be obtained. In Fig. 6, the system congurations that can meet the load with a
zero LPSP are presented, along with the corresponding LCE curves. The simulation results are presented for
two sites which present the lowest and highest renewable energy potential.
As it can be seen from these results, reduction in the battery storage capacity leads to the increase of PV and
wind generators size. At Ajaccio, by increasing the wind power, the PV generator capacity decreases gradually,
while the corresponding LCE remains almost constant with the smallest value for the system congurations comprising wind generator of power varying from 0 to 600 W. On the contrary, at ERSA, a sharp decrease in the PV
generator capacity and the LCE, is observed in the range of the wind power varying from 0 to 600 W, due to the
high available wind potential at this site. After this rapid decrease, the wind power increase leads to cost increase.

1.0

1.0

0.9

0.9

State of charge of battery bank

State of charge of battery bank

0.8

Ajaccio

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.8
AjaccioUPS

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.3

876

1752

2628

3504

4380

5256

6132

7008

7884

8760

876

1752

2628

Number of hour
1.0

1.0

0.9

0.9

State of charge of battery bank

State of charge of battery bank

3504

4380

5256

6132

7008

7884

8760

Number of hour

0.8

0.7

0.6
ERSA

0.5

0.4

0.8

0.7

0.6
ERSA /UPS

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.3
0

876

1752

2628

3504

4380

5256

Number of hour

6132

7008

7884

8760

876

1752

2628

3504

4380

5256

6132

7008

Number of hour

Fig. 8. Hourly variation of the battery SOC for the two types of optimum congurations: (a) Ajaccio, (b) Ersa.

7884

8760

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

981

At Ajaccio, the three days storage capacity is found the best for the optimal conguration with the lowest
LCE, while at ERSA site, the two days storage battery are sucient to meet the 100% reliability requirements
with the lowest LCE.

6.2. The impact of system conguration choice on system performance

In order to investigate the impact of the system conguration choice on the system performance and dimensions, two conguration types (with/without UPS) have been considered. The simulation results show that the
system with UPS leads to a signicant increase, especially for high wind potential regions, in system size compared to that without UPS and consequently, the LCE is considerably increased. Fig. 7 shows the results for

3.40

4 days storage
5 days' storage

2 days' storage
3 days storage

6 days storage

Levelised cost of energy ($/kWh)

3.20
Site: Ajaccio

3.00

2.80

2.60

2.40

2.20

2.00
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Wind/Total production power ratio

2 days' storage
3 days storage

Levelised cost of energy ($/kWh)

3.20

4 days storage
5 days' storage

6 days storage

2.80
Site: Ersa

2.40

2.00

1.60

1.20

0.80
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Wind/Total production power ratio

Fig. 9. The impact of Wind/total production power on the levelised cost of energy: (a) Ajaccio, (b) Ersa.

982

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

two sites representing dierent renewable energy potential. At high wind potential site (Ersa), the system size is
relatively more inuenced by the conguration choice than at low wind potential (Ajaccio).
Since the battery is the most sensitive elements of the hybrid system, the state of charge of the battery (SOC)
is analysed for these two system congurations. The simulation results show that the choice of the system conguration can also aect the SOC variation prole, especially at low wind potential sites. Fig. 8 gives the
hourly SOC variation of battery bank for these two congurations.
The rst case analysed concerns a low wind potential site. Due to low wind potential, the battery SOC is
dominated by PV generator power. The simulation results show that smaller battery SOCs occur on February
(between 745 h and 1416 h) and December (between 8016 h and 8760 h) when system energy production is relatively low, much more power can be supplied in spring and summer as indicated by the higher battery SOCs.

4.50

Hybrid
PV

4.00

WG

Levelised cost of energy ($/kWh)

3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50

a
nzar
Sole

Figa
ri

Ersa

i
Calv

Ajac

cio

0.00

Fig. 10. The levelised costs of energy for dierent congurations at dierent sites.

Table 3
Optimal sizing results for the hybrid PV/wind system for LPSP = 0%
Site

Power PV (W)

Conguration 1 (with UPS)

Ajaccio
Calvi
Ersa
Figari
Solenzara

2050
2100
1850
2150
2150

Conguration 2 (without UPS)

Ajaccio
Calvi
Ersa
Figari
Solenzara

1950
1950
850
1200
2150

Wind power
(W)

Storage capacity
(days)

LCE ($)

200
200
200
200
200

3
4
2
2.5
2.5

2.13
2.31
1.87
1.86
1.98

200
1000
600
1400
200

3
2.5
2
1.5
2.5

2.10
2.12
1.29
1.62
1.98

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

983

The comparative analysis shows that for conguration (with UPS), the SOC is much higher during all the
year than that for the case of conguration (without UPS) i.e., during the spring and summer seasons, the
SOC varies in the range of 0.91 for the conguration (with UPS) against 0.81 for that (without UPS).
The second case analysed concerns a high wind potential site. Since the wind is perfectly random and
unforeseeable and the important part of energy load requirement is covered by the wind energy, the battery
SOC varies in large interval and is maintained higher than 0.8 during only summer months (between 3624 h
and 5832 h), while during other months of the year, the SOC battery is decreased.
6.3. Impact of wind/total production energy ratio on the LEC
The simulation results show that the LCE for the HPWS congurations that guarantee a zero LPSP
depends largely on the renewable energy potential and the contribution of each energy source. It was found
that at high wind potential sites, more than 40% of the total production energy of the optimal system conguration is provided by the wind generator, while at low wind potential regions, the wind power contribution
for this system conguration represents less than 20% of total production energy. The simulation results for
two sites (Ajaccio and Ersa) are presented in Fig. 9.
As shown in this gure, at Ajaccio, the lowest LCE point happened with low wind/total energy production
ratios (<40%), while at Ersa, the wind/total energy production ratio of 40% is found to be the optimum ratio
to guarantee a zero LPSP with minimum LCE.
6.4. LCE analysis for hybrid and alone systems
Fig. 10 illustrates the LCE, corresponding to the optimal conguration, for three dierent systems; PV
alone, wind alone and hybrid PV/wind systems (considering the ve studied Corsican sites). The simulation
results indicate that the hybrid system is the best option for all the sites and for both congurations, yielding
lower LCE. But it is interesting to notice that at Ajaccio and Solenzara sites, the LCE for HPWS is approximately the same as that for a PV alone system. This is due to the fact that for these two sites, the solar potential is the dominant renewable source and the wind potential is low.
The basic technical and economic results for the optimal hybrid PV/wind system conguration for the two
conguration types at the ve locations are summarized in Table 3. In case that the power source consists
either only of wind turbine or only of PV generator, the optimal sizing results are given in Table 4.
The LCE is found to vary in the range of 1.293.93 $/kW h depending on the site and the system
conguration.

Table 4
Optimal sizing results for PV alone and wind turbine alone system for LPSP = 0
Site

Wind power (W)

Storage capacity (days)

LCE ($)

Conf. without Conf. with ( Conf. without Conf. with Conf. without Conf. (with
(UPS)
UPS)
(UPS)
(UPS)
(UPS)
UPS)
Wind turbine alone system (PV power = 0)
Ajaccio
Calvi
Ersa
Figari
Solenzara
Site
Power PV (W)
PV alone system (with/without UPS)
Ajaccio
2150
Calvi
2150
Ersa
2050
Figari
2350
Solenzara
2150

4600
3200
1200
2400
5600

4400
3000
1200
2000
5200
Wind power (W)
0
0
0
0
0

6
5.5
5
4.5
6

6
5.5
5
4.5
6
Storage capacity
3
4.5
3
2.5
3

3.55
2.87
1.96
2.28
3.93
(days)

3.47
2.79
1.96
2.12
3.78
LCE ($)
2.12
2.41
1.93
1.94
2.01

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S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

Comparing the hybrid system with the PV alone system or the wind alone system shows that the hybrid
system can reduce both PV capacity and wind turbine capacity. Also at low wind potential sites (Ajaccio
and Solenzara), the LCE for a single wind system is approximately 70100% higher than that for a single
PV system, while at high wind potential locations, with the exception of Ersa site, the LCE increase does
not exceed 20%.
6.5. Energy balance analysis of optimal system
One of the main targets of this study is to analyse and compare the energy behaviour of system located
throughout Corsica Island. In this section, the energy balance of the optimal HPWS is analysed for the sites
(Ajaccio and Ersa); The simulation results are presented in Figs. 11 and 12.

500

Wind Energy
PV energy

Ajaccio

Total energy
Load energy

Energy (KWh)

400

Excess energy

300

200

100

400

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

Mai

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

Wind Energy
PV energy

Ersa

Total energy
Load energy
Excess energy

Energy (KWh)

300

200

100

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

Mai

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

Fig. 11. Monthly energy balance for the optimal hybrid PV/wind system conguration at (a) Ajaccio, (b) Ersa.

S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

16000

Wind energy

Load energy

985

PV energy

14000

Energy production (Wh)

12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0

30

60

90

120

150

180

210

240

270

300

330

360

270

300

330

360

Day

16000

Wind energy

Load energy

PV energy

14000

Energy production (Wh)

12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0

30

60

90

120

150

180

210

240

Day
Fig. 12. Daily energy balance for the optimal hybrid PV/wind system conguration at (a) Ajaccio, (b) Ersa.

Taking into consideration that energy demand is the same for the optimal HPWS to be installed at all sites,
it is interesting to note that the energy production of the optimal hybrid system at Ajaccio can be four times
higher than the demand energy, while the corresponding energy production of the optimal HPWS at Ersa does
not exceed three times the energy demand. As result, the optimal hybrid system, which meets a zero LPSP,
presents a high energy surplus. Its value varies between 25% and 75% of the energy production, depending
on the site and the month (Fig. 11).
In Fig. 12, the daily energy production and consumption situations of the optimal system conguration are
given. At both sites the uctuations of the PV output are fairly violent, while that of wind output change more
strong than that of the PV, especially at Ersa site. This can be explained by the inhomogeneity nature of wind
power and solar energy distributions.

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S. Diaf et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 968987

Also the balance energy analysis shows that at Ajaccio site the PV generator contributes more to the system
total energy than at Ersa site where the wind energy production is quite better than the one produced by PV
generator.
7. Conclusion
This paper presents the results of investigations on the application of hybrid PV/wind power generating
systems for utilization as stand-alone systems in Corsica Island.
Therefore, the objective of the present work is to estimate the appropriate dimensions of a stand-alone
HPWS that guarantees the energy autonomy of a typical remote consumer, to compare the performance
and the optimal sizing of two system congurations for ve sites located in Corsica Island.
According to the results, related to the ve sites considered in this study, it can be concluded that:
 The LCE for the hybrid system congurations which meet the desired LPSP depends largely on the renewable energy potential quality. At high wind potential sites, more than 40% of the total production energy of
the optimal system conguration is provided by the wind generator, while at low wind potential regions, the
wind power contribution represents less than 20% of total production energy.
 Since the ve sites have almost the same solar energy potential, the wind energy potential quality aects
strongly the LCE.
 The hybrid system is the best option for all the sites considered in this study, yielding lower LCE. Thus, it
provides higher system performance than a PV or wind systems alone.
 The choice of the system conguration type aects the state of charge variation prole, especially at low
wind potential sites. For the conguration comprising a UPS, the SOC is much higher during all the year
than for the case of conguration (without UPS). While the system size and the LCE are signicantly inuenced by choice of system conguration type. On the other hand, at high wind potential sites, the battery
SOC varies in large interval compared to that at low wind potential sites.
 In all cases, the optimal hybrid PV/wind system, that guarantees a zero LPSP, products a high energy surplus which can reach 75% of the energy production. Therefore, the use of a third controllable energy source
as a back-up electricity source (i.e., conventional generator) can reduce the energy surplus while maintaining the LCE at minimum value.

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