Energy and Buildings 35 (2003) 139145

Technoeconomic assessment of a hybrid solar/wind installation for electrical energy saving

G.C. Bakos*, N.F. Tsagas
Laboratory of Energy Economy, Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi, Greece Received 9 December 2001; accepted 1 February 2002

Abstract This paper reports the technical feasibility and economic viability of a hybrid solar/wind grid connected system for electrical and thermal energy production, covering the energy demand of a typical residence in the city of Xanthi (Greece). The technical characteristics of the solar and wind energy subsystems are given. The energy output provided by the hybrid energy system was estimated using a simulation program, which is based on the Monte Carlo method, for reading the solar radiation and wind potential data. The auxiliary energy supply is based on the output of a combined-cycle natural gas power plant, recently constructed in the Thrace region. The economic analysis of the proposed hybrid solar/wind system is performed using the life cycle savings (LCS) method and the payback period (PBP) of the initial capital cost is determined. # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Renewable energy; Solar thermal system; Wind energy conversion system; Electrical energy saving

1. Introduction During the last 10 years, the motivation for the use of renewable energy sources in the industrialized world, and Europe in particular, has based mainly on energy and resource related arguments. Cogeneration projects were carried out for wind/diesel systems [1], wind and microhydro generation [2] and wind/hydro/diesel hybrid power schemes [3]. The degree of reliability desired of a wind and solar process to meet a particular load can be provided by a combination of properly sized wind turbine, solar collector, storage units and an auxiliary energy source. In most climates, auxiliary energy is needed to provide high reliability and avoid gross over-design of the solar and wind system. The value of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, can be obtained by analyzing the savings on fuel and capacity (internal value) and also analyzing the external benets (external value) [4]. The determination of the external benets of wind and solar energy can be done by estimating the external costs (environmental, general economic and government subsidies) of conventional electricity production (fossil fuel). The environmental costs are
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 30-541-79725; fax: 30-541-79734. E-mail address: bakos@ee.duth.gr (G.C. Bakos).

damage cost gures for the ora, fauna, mankind, materials and climate change. In this paper, the auxiliary energy source is natural gas and provides power during cloudy and low wind periods. The internal cost of solar and wind generation will be taken into account and the external cost related to the environmental parameters, although it is very important, will be omitted. The economic analysis of the wind/solar system, assisted from a natural gas based utility, is of great interest to Greek Economic Planning since the solar and wind potential is among the highest in Europe and the natural gas network is only recently established.

2. Technology of hybrid energy system 2.1. Solar thermal energy subsystem The solar thermal system consists of a parabolic trough collector, a ash vessel, a high-pressure circulating pump and associated pumps and pipe work (Fig. 1a). The solar collector system works by drawing water from the ash vessel, which is circulated through the receiver of the solar collector at high-pressure to inhibit evaporation into the receiver, and hence prevent ow stability problems. The high-temperature, high-pressure water is ashed into steam

0378-7788/02/$ see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 7 8 - 7 7 8 8 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 2 3 - 3

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Fig. 1. (a) Schematic of solar thermal subsystem. (b) Schematic of wind energy conversion system.

at atmospheric pressure in the ash vessel which acts as a steam separator. The ash vessel is a vertical vessel with the inlet for the water located about one-third of the way up its side. The standard design of ash vessels requires that the diameter of the vessel be chosen so that the steam ows towards the top outlet connection at no more than about 3 m s1. The steam is supplied to the turbine which is connected to a generator. The power generation system is based on a conventional Rankine cycle reheat steam turbine. Tracking of the collectors is controlled by sun sensors that utilize an optical system to focus radiation on two lightsensitive diodes, with imbalance causing corrections in the positioning of the collectors. There is a sensor and controller on each collector assembly. The resolution of the sensor is 0.5 C. The collectors rotate about horizontal northsouth

axes, an arrangement which results in slightly less energy incident on them over 1 year but which favors summertime operation when peak power is needed. The heat transfer uid is heated in the collectors and is piped to the solar steam generator and superheater where it generates the steam to be supplied to the turbine. Reliable high-temperature circulating pumps are critical to the success of the system. The technical characteristics of the solar thermal system, which are used as input data in the simulation program, and the calculated monthly useful electrical energy production are shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The simulation program is based on the ow chart proposed by Kalogirou et al. [5], and is written in Pascal language and developed in the Laboratory of Energy Economy, Democritus University of Thrace.

G.C. Bakos, N.F. Tsagas / Energy and Buildings 35 (2003) 139145 Table 1 Solar thermal system technical characteristics Parameter Solar radiation (W m ) Ambient temperature (8C) Aperture width (m) Aperture area (m2) Collector optical efficiency Slope of collector performance graph (W m2 K1) Flash vessel water content (kg) Flash vessel outside diameter (mm) Flash vessel inside diameter (mm) Flash vessel wall thickness (mm) Flash vessel height (m) UA value of the pipes(W K1) Pump body area (m2) Insulation conductivity (W m1 K1) Mass flow rate (kg s1) Mass of circulated water (kg)
2

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Table 3 Horizontal axis wind turbine technical characteristics Value 550 32 1.46 3.5 0.655 0.387 0.7 105 65 2 0.6 0.93 0.12 0.035 0.042 4 Parameter Number of blades Blade diameter (m) Tower height (m) Area of rotation (m2) Rotational speed (rpm) Blade material Cut-in wind speed (m s1) Cut-out wind speed (m s1) Rated power (kW) Value 2 3.5 6 9.6 190 Wood 4 1420 2.2

Table 2 Solar system monthly useful energy production Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Annual Useful energy (kWh) 27.9 45.78 146.61 210.30 273.33 401.28 469.41 386.43 280.65 165.96 60.30 33.09 2501.04

2.2. Wind energy conversion subsystem The experimental set-up consists of: (a) a meteorological station which can monitor continuously the wind speed, wind direction and the environmental temperature, and (b) a wind spectrum analyzer which registers the wind speed to 20 registers. The station is installed near the residence and operates in parallel with the experimental wind turbine of nominal power 2.2 kW with a synchronous generator. The site of installation is described as of medium wind potential. The horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) is supported by a steel tower of 6 m height and is protected by an automatic protection system. The movement of the generator is assured from two blades of 1.75 m each. The step of the blades is changing and can be adjusted automatically in relation to the rotation of the generator with the use of centrifugal weights.

The HAWT used in this project has the ability to rotate around the vertical axis. The base of the steel tower includes the control and protection systems of the wind turbine. The protection system consists of a wind pressure switch, which can protect the wind turbine from very high wind speeds. The protection system is also activated when the produced current is more than 510% of 1720 A. Nine accumulators Oerlikon are used for electricity storage. The accumulators are connected in series with a nominal voltage of 110 V, nominal capacity 140 Ah and efciency 90%. Fig. 1b shows the schematic diagram of the wind energy conversion system (WECS). The technical characteristics of the WECS and the monthly useful electrical energy production are given in Tables 3 and 4, respectively. The annual energy consumption of a typical residence is given in Table 5. The Komotini combined-cycle natural gas power plant is located approximately 50 km from the city of Xanthi (Fig. 2) and meets about 10% of the countrys electricity demand under full operation conditions. Its total installed capacity is 476 MW and consists of two gas turbines (2 154 MW) and one steam turbine (1 168 MW). Due to cogeneration, the power plant overall efciency is increased up to 52.5%. Fig. 3 shows the cost of electricity unit provided by Public

Table 4 Monthly useful energy production from WECS Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Annual Useful monthly energy (kWh) 204.11 192.23 101.25 86.6 85.6 91.3 171.9 115.6 111.8 155.14 191.27 210.25 1717.05

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Table 5 Estimated annual energy consumption in a typical residence Electrical appliance Refrigerator Electrical kitchen Iron Water heater (boiler) Washing machine Coffee maker Air conditioning Hi-fi Television Lighting Total annual energy consumption Estimated (kWh per year) 1140 1200 156 13000 108 108 4200 120 504 552 21088

Power Corporation without (base case) and with the natural gas power plant in operation. The overall system is shown in Fig. 4, where the hybrid solar/wind system loops are in parallel to allow operation with either or both the energy sources.

3. Economic assessment The objective of the economic analysis can be viewed as the determination of the least cost method of meeting the energy need, considering solar, wind and auxiliary natural gas energy. The problem is to determine the lowest cost combination of solar, wind and auxiliary energy. In the proposed hybrid energy system, the main impact of solar and wind energy is the increased mortgage payments and decreased fuel costs. Solar and wind savings are the difference between the cost of energy delivered from natural gas and solar/wind system and is given by savings costs of natural gas costs of solar=wind energy: For the economic analysis in the proposed combined system, the life cycle savings (LCS) method is used. This method takes into account the time value of money and allows detailed consideration of the complete range of costs. Fuel expense is for energy purchase from natural gas power plant via Greek Public Power Corporation. The mortgage payment includes interest and principal payment on funds borrowed to install the system. Maintenance and insurance are recurring costs required to keep the system in operating condition and keep it protected against re or

Fig. 2. Map of Greece.

Fig. 3. Cost of electricity provided by Public Power Corporation.

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Fig. 4. Block diagram of hybrid solar/wind energy system.

other losses. Parasitic energy costs are electrical and mechanical energy uses in the system. Income tax savings for a non-income producing system can be expressed as income tax savings effective tax rate interest payment property tax: If an obligation recurs each year and inates at a rate of i per period, present worth factor (PWF) of the series of N such payments can be found from the following equation [6]: PWFN; i; d
N X 1 ij1 j j1

capital sum invested. Any prots beyond the PBP are ignored, and the user cannot see future trends. The basic premise of the PBP is that the more quickly the cost of an investment can be recovered, the more desirable is the investment. The simple payback method is of great importance to smaller rms or private owners that may be cash poor. In this case, the investor will require a faster return of cash investment.

4. Results and conclusions The hybrid solar/wind system should meet the energy demand required for the continuous operation of a typical residence. The solar and wind subsystems are estimated to provide annual electrical energy of 2.501 and 1717 kWh (e), respectively. The solar thermal system also provides 13,000 kWh (th) per year. Taking under consideration the ability of the solar system to provide hot water throughout the year, the solar/wind subsystem covers 82% of the total annual energy demand (21,088 kWh). The solar/wind system costs US$ 13,300 and is 90% nanced over 20 years at an interest rate of 9%. The cost of auxiliary energy, provided by the East Branch of Gas Network and supervised by the Greek Natural Gas Company and PPC, is estimated at about US$ 0.04/kWh after taking into consideration parameters referring to installation, operational and investment costs [7]. The rst years natural gas cost (without solar/wind system energy) is estimated at approximately US$ 44. According to the companys pricing policy, the cost of the natural gas is expected to rise at 10% per year. Furthermore, it is expected that the equipment will have a resale value at the end of 20 years of 40% of the original cost. In the rst year of operation, extra insurance, maintenance and parasitic energy costs are estimated as 1% of the total investment cost, and extra property tax is estimated to be 2% of the total investment cost. These are expected to rise at a general ination rate of 6% per year. The effective income tax rate is expected to be 45% through the period of analysis. If the market discount rate is 8%, then the present worth of

1 d "   # 1 1i N 1 d i 1d

if i 6 d;

or PWFN; i; d
N X 1 ij1 j1

1 d

N 1i

if i d;

where N is the period of economic analysis, i is ination rate and d is the discount rate. The relationship for determining the present worth of US$ 1 needed N periods (usually years) in the future, with a market discount rate of d, and is given by [6] PW 1 1 dN :

The payback period, needed for the cumulative fuel savings to equal the total initial investment in the system, is given by the following equation: Np ln Cs iF =FLCF1 1 ; ln 1 iF

where Cs is the total cost of installed solar energy equipment (in US$), iF the fuel cost ination rate, CF1 is the unit energy cost delivered from fuel, FL is energy saved. The payback period (PBP) is determined by accumulating the annual prots until their value is equal to the

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Table 6 Economic analysis of the combined energy system (in US$) Year Fuel savings Extra mortgage payment Extra insurance maintenance, energy 133 141 149 158 167 177 400 Extra property tax Income tax savings Solar/wind savings 1330 479 438 392 342 284 221 1943 5320 PW of solar/wind savings 1330 444 376 311 251 193 139 417 1141

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 20 20

692 761 837 921 1013 1114 4231

1376 1376 1376 1376 1376 1376 1376

266 282 298 316 334 354 800

604 600 594 587 580 572 288

Total present worth of solar/wind savings 695.

Fig. 5. Solar/wind savings as a function of the economic analysis period.

solar savings for this application over a 20-year period is given in Table 6 and shown in Fig. 5. The resale value of US$ 5320 in year 20 is shown as the second entry in entry 20 and is positive as it contributes to savings. The sum of last column (US$ 695) is the total present worth of the gains from the combined solar/wind system compared to the natural gas-only system. The developed hybrid solar/wind/natural gas energy system was used to cover the energy demand of a typical residence. From the economic analysis of this system, it was found that the year-to-positive cash ow is 9 years and the PBP, including the parasitic energy, is estimated at 12 years when the auxiliary energy is provided by natural gas power plant. The use of natural gas as auxiliary energy source makes the particular small-scale RES application for energy saving

in building sector less competitive. However, the minimum external costs related to RES compared to conventional energy sources could certainly reduce the year-to-positive cash ow and PBP. This will force the private investors to move not only towards large-scale capital intensive RES investments but also towards small-scale RES investments. References
[1] M. Bullock, P.J. Musgrove, The effects of turbulence spectra and load profiles on the operation of a modeled 60 kW wind/diesel system, in: Proceedings of the 9th BWEA Wind Energy Conference, Edinburgh, 13 April 1987, pp. 177185. [2] W.M. Somerville, W.G. Stevenson, Wind power and microhydro cogeneration for isolated communities, in: Proceedings of the 9th BWEA Wind Energy Conference, Edinburgh, 13 April 1987, pp. 195 199.

G.C. Bakos, N.F. Tsagas / Energy and Buildings 35 (2003) 139145 [3] G. Nicholson, W.M. Somerville, D. Alexander, Foula Island windhydro-diesel hybrid power scheme; commissioning, control programming, and early operation, in: Proceedings of the 13th BWEA Wind Energy Conference, Swansea, 1012 April 1991, pp. 3944. [4] A.J.M. Van Wijk, W.C. Turkenburg, The value of wind energy, in: Proceedings of the 13th BWEA Wind Energy Conference, Swansea, 1012 April 1991, pp. 19.

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[5] S. Kalogirou, S. Lloyd, J. Ward, Modeling, optimization and performance evaluation of a parabolic trough solar collector steam generation system, Solar energy 60 (1) (1997) 4959. [6] J.A. Duffie, W.A. Beckman, Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, Wiley, USA, 1991. [7] D. Christophoratos, Natural gas applications for electricity generation, Thesis dissertation, University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece, 1998 (in Greek).