Renewable Energy, Vol, 6, No. 5~5, pp.

643647, 1995
Copyright c© 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd
~ Pergamon Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0960-1481(95)00044-5 096~1481/95 $9.50+0.00

D E S I G N A N D A N A L Y S I S OF P H O T O V O L T A I C A N D
W I N D E N E R G Y H Y B R I D SYSTEMS IN A L E X A N D R I A ,
EGYPT

S. G O M A A , A. K . A B O U L S E O U D a n d H. N . K H E I R A L L A
Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt

Abstract--Solar intensity and wind speed are the main factors for studying energy generation using
photovoltaic cells and windmill turbines. Each of these depend on factors such as latitude, altitude, load
profile, season, sea-and-land-breeze and solar activities. A data acquisition system is designed to accept
multiple data input signals. Wind speed and insolation data for a site in Alexandria on the North-western
(NW) coast of Egypt have been collected throughout one year. Analysis of the data has been done on
hourly, daily, and monthly bases during the year. The data collected are used to design a hybrid system on
a per kilowatt basis.

INTRODUCTION A data acquisition system was designed to accept

multiple data input signals, to process the data accord-
The Sun is an inexhaustible source of energy. It is
ing to user selected functions, and to output the data
also responsible for weather conditions. Solar energy
in a meaningful form to devices such as printers and
can be either utilized directly via photovoltaic tech-
recorders. This system provided an accurate real-time
niques or can be collected and transformed into other
analysis for the assessment of solar and wind energies.
forms of energy. An indirect form of solar energy is
A solar and wind energy hybrid system was simulated
wind energy. The wind results from the fact that the
using actual data of insolation and wind speed col-
Earth's equatorial regions receive more solar radi-
lected over a one year period, from 1 October 1991 to
ation than the polar regions. This causes large-scale
30 September 1992. The site chosen has a latitude of
convection currents in the atmosphere [1].
31 ° 15' on the N W coast of Egypt.
We cannot collect solar energy at night or during
We used an IBM PC and designed an input/output
cloudy weather. On the other hand, wind energy is
card which digitized 16 analogue inputs, provided one
available much of the time. Both of these energies can
analogue output, an empty E P R O M socket for user
be combined to compensate for each other. In order
programs, and 16 high current discrete outputs. The
to investigate the potential of such a hybrid system,
inputs to the card are the outputs of the photovoltaic
we must collect data for wind speed and photovoltaic
panel and the anemometer instrument.
energy for the chosen site, and design the system
The photovoltaic panel consists of cells assembled
accordingly.
in series-parallel connection glued to a glass plate and
One of the most promising spots for renewable
encapsulated to be sealed from harmful environ-
energy generation is the N W coast of Egypt along the
mental effects. The panel was fixed at an angle equal
Mediterranean Sea.
to the latitude angle of the chosen site (31°15'), and
facing South to keep the direct radiation per-
pendicular to it, in order to maximize the output over
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM
all of the year [3].
In order to assess the variability of both wind energy The panel was calibrated in U N A R K using a stan-
and photovoltaic energy at a particular location, it is dard Solarex cell. To obtain a m a x i m u m output power
necessary to know the wind and solar characteristics at (AM1), we used variable loads connected to the
of the site. Knowledge of the mean velocity, sunshine panel. The output of the panel was connected to the
hours, insolation, power levels, variability for different variable loads by means of 8 relay switches. These
time scales, persistence, and correlation are all neces- switches were controlled by a software program
sary for proper sizing [2]. loaded in the E P R O M of the input/output card.

643
644 S. GOMAA et al.

The maximum output power was recorded every 1000[- June 1992
half hour during one year. This was done from dawn 900~
/
to dusk automatically [4]. The wind speed data were !
collected using an anemometer instrument fixed at 70 ~" 8°°F
v
ft above ground level on the same site as the solar ~ 700~
panel. The output was converted to d.c. This output
was then connected to the computer input card. ~ 6°°F
A special timer circuit was designed and connected ~ 5oo14
to the computer input supply. It switches on the supply li
400~
to the computer every 30 rain and turns it off after ~l ---Wind
the data are recorded. The whole system is shown in ~ 3001-
Fig. 1. l
,,i
Based on the optimum values for design 2o0r
parameters, an analysis of the performance of the ]o0[--- /'~ /~'"l i I. ?7
". t ~'.l l! : t
system was carried out. This analysis included the °'1| I I I I i I ",I I
following. 5 9 13 17 21 25 29
Month days
1. Daily average power per month, in which an aver- (a)
age value of photovoltaic power and wind power
per day for every month was computed, as in
1000 - May 1992
Figs 2(a) and (b). The results show that for low
wind power, we have high photovoltaic power, 9oo
therefore we can conclude that by a combination
8oo - j A
of the two systems we can satisfy the purpose of it f l
PV 11 1
supplying the expected demand cycle. .~ 7oo
It # I
2. Average power o f daily hours per month, which 600 i tl _..,,t-,-
• --" "~ " " • I II f!
was investigated to prove that the power
extracted from the designed system could cover ~ 500 - i ! I v \ iv.v !
the required power during all the hours of the ~, 400 _ , .I I i.~1 . l t_
w 1~ I 1 ! V
day independently e.g. Figs 3(a) and (b). It is It * I S I ! I
evident that in order to cover the required power ~ 300 rV ~' ; I ---Wind
t !
through the whole day, we have to use a storage < 200
system. '4
3. The day o f minimum photovoltaic power per lO0
month, which was investigated to assess the wind 0 I I I I I I I
5 9 13 17 21 25 29
power corresponding to the day of minimum
Month days

(b)
Wind Generator Converter Fig. 2. Variability of daily average power per month: (a)
R
e June; (b) May.
e
card m 0
0 r photovoltaic power during each month. This can
Solar d help to decide whether the sum of the two powers

L e
17
cover the required power or not. For example,
for a day in October, Fig. 4(a), during which the
value of output power from the photovoltaic
panel is at a minimum, the power extracted from
the wind turbine is very high, quite enough to
supply the needed power. By using the combined
system we can obtain the required power for the
minimum days.
220 V
4. The day of minimum wind power per month, in
Fig. l. Schematic diagram ofsystem connection. which the results shown in Fig. 4(b) indicate that
 Photovoltaic and wind energy hybrid systems 645

lO0(] October 1991 100(]

22 October 1991
9013
11 ~ i !
800 8O(]

- -- Wind
I ~| i/--I /i
! 'd!
lll'
!
I

70(]

@
60C ---Wind ~/, s! ~ 6013
!
I
P
ii"
!
. II
II
t r

J, ,9¢5
,,,, ,,,,I - ~ oi:a,, 50(3 q PV : I
I '
! 400 Y! ! 40(3
< ~1
-
~ #! PV
"v,. O 300
l l
II
II
lI
If
200 -
',!• II
II
10(] II
I..j II

5
I(
10
I I
15
~ I
20 1
,f ;,/i i I I I~
4 6 10
12 14 16 18 20 22
Daily hour Daily hours
(a) (a)
1000 -
1000 1 May 1992 23 August 1992
900 -

! 800 -

700 - ---PV I I
%
I / _t ~.'~ --" Wind
I •
600 - ,.I t
I
500 - !I I
I I
! I
400 - I I
ca, I I
! t
O 300 - I II
< !

"I / I I
\ 200 -

1 0 0 --
I
2
I
4
Wind speed < cut-in speed~

t!
I
I
6
i

I
8
I
10
I
12
I
14 16
I
18
,I
tt

I t-l.
20 22
I
0 5 10 15 20
Daily hour Daily hours
(b)
(b) Fig. 4. Minimum power of one day per month : (a) minimum
Fig. 3. Average power per month for the different hours of photovoltaic power ; (b) minimum wind power.
the day : (a) October ; (b) May.

the wind speed is less than the cut-in speed (3
m/s). The output power from the photovoltaic
panel for this zero power day could not cover
the needed power. Thus to satisfy the purpose of
obtaining the needed power by the hybrid
system, we must use a storage system.
5. The MSD, the mean square deviation around the
required power which is calculated using the sys-
tem design parameters. It is the square root of
the summation of the square of the excess power
PE (positive power) and the square of the
deficiency N E (negative power), divided by the
total number of data points (17,568). Figures 5
(a) and (b) show the percentage positive exceed-
ance and the percentage negative deficiency per
unit power versus the percentage values that the
time abscissa is exceeded respectively. We con-
clude that the exceeded power is sufficient to
cover the time duration of deficient power. This
can only be realized by using a storage system.
The variation of different values of power and
the corresponding M S D around them is shown
646 S. GOMAA et al.
,~ I 0 0 - in Fig. 5 (c). This had been carried out under the
o~
constant design parameters of the prospective
hybrid system [5].
80
r~

System design data

6O
The data are used to design a hybrid system for a
per unit kilowatt output. This is done by performing
Et 40 a statistical analysis to optimize the mean square devi-
ation of the output, the excess power and the power
deficiency of the system, using Figs 5(a),(b) and (c).
20 As a result of this analysis, the area of the photovoltaic
panel, the rated power of the windmill turbine, the
cut-in speed and the rated speed of the windmill tur-
I I I I I I
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0,8 1.0 1.2 bine are calculated as follows :
Per unit p o w e r
Area of photovoltaic panel = 6 m 2
(a)
Rated power = 0.9 kW
14 Cut-in speed = 3.0 m/s
Rated speed = 5.0 m/s
12

..~ 10
CONCLUSIONS
'~ 8 Conventional energy sources are nonrenewable.
These sources will, one day, be exhausted. So, much
6 effort must be made towards exploiting new and
renewable energy sources. Wind and solar energies
4 can be considered as important energy sources due to
ctl
their specific advantages: global availability, lack of
pollution, low maintenance, long lifetime, easy instal-
g~ lation, adaptation capability and no need for fuel.
I The analysis performed on the designed hybrid sys-
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
tem shows the following characteristics [5].
Per unit p o w e r
(b) (1) For the photovoltaic panel, the total annual
1.8 power for the site chosen is at a maximum by
tilting the panel to the horizontal at an angle of
C~ 31°15 '"
(2) The total output energy per month is at a
t~ maximum during April, May, June, July and
0 1.4
August.
'~
(3) The wind speed is higher on average in months
"~ 1.2 with a lower insolation.
(4) Wind picks up by noon, and also after midnight
1.0 but with a lower peak.
(5) There is a clear wind cycle per day due to the
0,8 sea breeze.

Finally, it is proposed to use the method presented

0.6 ,,I I [ I I I I I I
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 i.2 1.4 1.6 !.8 2.0 2.2 in this paper to optimally design hybrid solar and
Per unit p o w e r wind energy systems. In addition to the objective to
(C)
improve system efficiency, it is recommended to install
Fig. 5. Power excess/deficiencyanalysis : (a) positive exceedance rechargeable batteries to make use of the excess power
per unit power ; (b) negative deficiencyper unit power; (c) mean
square deviation (MSD) around the given rated power. during the deficiency periods.
 Photovoltaic and wind energy hybrid systems 647

REFERENCES prediction of flat plate photovoltaic module. Photovoltaic

1. P. J. Musgrove, Wind energy, Paper based on a lecture
given to the Royal Society of Arts. Royal Society of Arts,
Non-conventional Energy Sources, ACIF series 3 (1983).
2. R. D. Whitaker et al., Experimental demonstration of the
efficiency of global versus direct beam using performance
Specialists Conf., p. 469 (1982).
3. M. A. Green, Solar Cells, U.S.A. (1982).
4. D. Le Gourieres, Wind Power Planets Theory and Design.
Pergman Press (1982).
5. S. Gomaa, Photovoltaic and wind hybrid systems.
Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Faculty Of Engineering,
Alexandria University, Egypt (1993).