Energy 86 (2015) 152e163

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Modeling and optimization of batteryless hybrid PV

(photovoltaic)/Diesel systems for off-grid applications
David Tsuanyo a, b, Yao Azoumah a, *, Didier Aussel b, Pierre Neveu b
a
LESEE-2iE, Institut International d'Ing

enierie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement, 01 BP 594 Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso
b
Universit

e de Perpignan Via Domitia/PROMES-CNRS, Tecnosud, 66100 Perpignan, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents a new model and optimization procedure for off-grid hybrid PV (photovoltaic)/Diesel
Received 5 December 2014 systems operating without battery storage.
Received in revised form The proposed technico-economic model takes into account the variability of both the solar irradiation
23 March 2015
and the electrical loads. It allows optimizing the design and the operation of the hybrid systems by
Accepted 27 March 2015
Available online 29 May 2015
searching their lowest LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity). Two cases have been investigated: identical
Diesel generators and Diesel generators with different sizes, and both are compared to conventional
standalone Diesel generator systems. For the same load profile, the optimization results show that the
Keywords:
PV (photovoltaic)
LCOE of the optimized batteryless hybrid solar PV/Diesel (0.289 V/kWh for the hybrid system with
Hybrid system identical Diesel generators and 0.284 V/kWh for the hybrid system with different sizes of Diesel gen-
Diesel generator erators) is lower than the LCOE obtained with standalone Diesel generators (0.32 V/kWh for the both
LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) cases). The obtained results are then confirmed by HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric
Optimization Renewables) software.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa are regions where only 14% of
the population have access to electricity [1]. These regions count for
almost two third of the sub-Saharan African population [2]. Solar
resource is abundant in Sub-Saharan countries. Their mean daily
solar irradiation exceeds 5.5 kWh/m2/day [3]. There is then a great
possibility to widen the rural electrification by using photovoltaic
systems.
Despite the significant drop of photovoltaic modules cost over
the last decades [4], the photovoltaic systems still have several
drawbacks that compromise their spreading in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The well-known ones are the high investment cost of PV (photo-
voltaic) panels compared to the level of poverty in this region as
stated by Karekezi [2] and of course, the natural intermittence of
the solar irradiation.
In other side, standalone Diesel generators are mainly used for
rural electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the CO2 emission,
the prohibitive cost of the Diesel fuel and the high maintenance
cost of Diesel generators have shown that the latters are not the
best solution for rural electrification in this region [5].
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yao.azoumah@gmail.com (Y. Azoumah).
Kaldellis et al. [6] and Shafiqur et al. [7] have clearly shown in
their study the relevance of hybrid system when addressing remote
areas electrification issues.
Díazet. Al [8] experimented different systems for rural electri-
fication. They based their study on field operation of twelve col-
lective PV installations supplying the electricity to off-grid villages
located in the province of Jujuy, in Argentina. Five of them have PV
generators as unique power source while other seven include the
support of Diesel groups. Load demand evolution, energy produc-
tivity and fuel consumption were analyzed. Besides, energy gen-
eration strategies (PV/diesel) were performed and have proven the
reliability of hybrid PV/diesel systems.
PV/Diesel hybrid systems seem to be more suitable for rural
areas in sub-Saharan Africa and for any other remote area with
higher solar irradiation. As dealt by many authors, PV/Diesel hybrid
systems can be certainly more reliable and more cost effective than
standalone PV systems or standalone Diesel generators if and only
if they are well designed and well managed during their operation
[9,10]. Overcoming these issues appeals to a thorough knowledge of
not only the components of such systems but also their functioning.
So far, most of the PV/Diesel hybrid systems widely include
batteries to meet transient loads and/or to draw maximum power
output [11,12]. However, the use of batteries is neither an envi-
ronmental nor an economic friendly solution. In fact, batteries need

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.03.128
0360-5442/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163
to be recycled at the end of their lifetime, but in rural areas, there is
no infrastructure for battery recycling (in general, in developing
countries, there is no recycling infrastructure for batteries). They
are then released in the nature, causing serious harms for the
environment. More precisely, many authors agree on the fact that
the heavy weight, the bulky size, the short lifetime (between 3 and
5 years maximum in rural areas for solar lead-acid batteries which
are commonly used for PV systems), the chemical pollution, and the
high investment and replacement costs of the batteries are so many
reasons that motivate to seek for a batteryless solution (systems
without batteries for “production storage”) for rural electrification
[11e14]. Obviously, for practical reasons, very little batteries (for
“management storage”) could be used for the management of the
hybrid systems.
Over the two past decades, the awareness of the sustainable
development notion and the necessity to supply reliable and cost
effective electricity to rural areas have promoted the development
of hybrid energy systems. Among them, a new concept on hybrid
system called “Flexy-Energy” has been developed by Azoumah
et al. [13,14]. The “Flexy-Energy” concept could be defined as a new
approach for sustainable energy production by optimizing both the
use of local mix of energy resources and the management of the
loads to be supplied; through the use of a smart control unit [14].
According to this concept, the PV/Diesel hybrid systems could be
more reliable and cost effective without battery storage. The hybrid
system should be composed of several Diesel generators powered
by either Diesel fuel or local biofuels or both (depending on the cost
and availability of the fuels), and a PV array with several inverters;
all this in order to increase the flexibility of the overall system
management. Fig. 1 presents the “Flexy-Energy” scheme for PV/
Diesel hybrid system without battery storage.
Such a concept induces complex coupling between the different
units of electricity production (solar PV systems and Diesel gener-
ators), the different types of loads (critical, secondary and dis-
patchable or controllable loads), and involves several technical
constraints recalled in the first section. It is clear that reliable model
is required for designing, simulating and optimizing of such a
hybrid system, based on economic criteria.
Fig. 1. “Flexy Energy” solar PV/Diesel hybrid system.
153
It is well noting that many software exist for hybrid systems
design such as HOMER, HYBRID2 (Hybrid Power System Simulation
Model), HOGA (Hybrid Optimization by Genetic Algorithms), and
TRNSYS (Transient Energy System Simulation Program).

HYBRID2 (Hybrid Power System Simulation Model) is developed
by the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) and the
University of Massachusetts [15,16] and TRNSYS (Transient En-
ergy System Simulation Program) is developed in FORTRAN
(FORmula TRANslator) in 1975 by the University of Wisconsin
and the University of Colorado [17]. Baki
c et al. [18] developed a
dynamical analysis based on the transient system simulation
program TRNSYS 16 for a hybrid PV/Wind/Diesel system. Their
objective was to design a realistic energy system that maximizes
the use of renewable energy (solar and wind) and minimizes the
use of fossil fuels.
It is well-known that HYBRID2 and TRNSYS are both used only
for simulation, so they cannot serve to optimize a system.
On the other side, HOMER and HOGA are optimization software:

HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables)
[19], developed by NREL, is currently the most often used opti-
mization software for hybrid systems.
Khan et al. [20] used HOMER to develop multiple optimal
combinations of hybrid renewable energy systems for Tioman, a
resort island in the South China, on actual generation-side energy
auditing, assessment of seasonal renewable energy resources
availability versus load profiles, and techno-economic analyses.
Abdullah et al. also have used HOMER to study rural electrification
of an ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Tele-
center in particular reference to the Kelabit Highland of Sarawak.
Different schemes for rural electrification (Diesel/PV/Hydro/fuel
cell) of the rural ICT were evaluated considering sustainability
factors such as system efficiency, weather, fuel costs, operating and
maintaining costs. Rohani et al. [21], carried out a study on
modeling and design of a hybrid renewable energy system for the
154 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163
remote area in RasMusherib located in the western region of Abu
Dhabi. The hybrid system, which consists of PV (photovoltaic) array,
wind turbines, batteries and Diesel generators, was designed to
meet three known electric loads, 500 kW, 1 MW, and 5 MW to be
able to fulfill the primary load for 250, 500 and 2500 households.
Different combination of wind turbines, PV, batteries and genera-
tors were evaluated in order to determine the optimal combination
of the hybrid system based on the lower Net Present Cost method
implemented in HOMER.
It is well noting that HOMER computes and ranks several
feasible combinations for PV array power, inverters power, and
Diesel generators according to the NPC (Net Present Cost) of the
system. However, it offers only local optimal solutions determined
by a combination of parameters initially entered by users. More-
over, HOMER does not take into account several inverters.
Two types of dispatch strategies are available in HOMER for the
operating management. In the ‘load following’ strategy, Diesel
generators supply just enough power to the loads whenever there
is insufficient renewable energy contribution: this is just not rele-
vant because there is no guarantee that their operation is optimal.
In the ‘cycle charging’ strategy, the Diesel generator (if present)
runs at full power and excess electricity is used for charging the
batteries [22], but batteries are out of consideration in the hybrid
system studied in this paper as above-mentioned.

HOGA (Hybrid Optimization by Genetic Algorithms) is a hybrid
system simulation and optimization program developed in Cþþ
by Jose
L. Bernal-Agustín and Rodolfo Dufo-Lo
pez of the Elec-
trical Engineering Department of the University of Zaragoza,
Spain [23]. The optimization is carried out by means of Genetic
Algorithms to find global solution, which is in opposite to
HOMER.
Rajkumar et al. [24] have used HOGA to compare their optimi-
zation methodology ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference Sys-
tem) that model the PV and wind sources in order to determine the
ability of the system to meet the load requirements.
However, HOGA does not perform the optimization of a system
with multiple Diesel generators and inverters.
Considering the above description of the existing software, it is
clear that none of them could perform at the same time the design,
the simulation and the optimization of batteryless PV/Diesel hybrid
systems as depicted in Fig. 1. Consequently, it becomes necessary to
develop a new model that could take into account the solar irra-
diation and the loads variations, the flexibility in hybrid systems
management (management of the energy produced by the power
plant) and the flexibility in loads management (micro-smart grid
management).
To reach this objective, this paper can be regarded as a first step:
only hybrid systems management is taken into account. The flexi-
bility in loads management will be investigated in a further work.
Technical and economic models for the batteryless hybrid sys-
tems are developed and applied to a real case study. Finally, results
are analyzed and compared with those obtained by HOMER.
2. Operational strategy for a “Flexy-Energy” hybrid system
As seen in Fig. 1, a PV array with different strings connected to
inverters is coupled with several Diesel generators connected in
parallel to supply different types of electrical loads.
To enable an affordable price of electricity for the target people
(here the rural and sub-urban populations), the main issue in such a
hybrid system is to ensure the minimal LCOE or NPC by an opti-
mization acting on:
- The design of the system (peak power to be installed, inverters
and Diesel generators capacities and numbers)
- The whole management during its operation. When several
Diesel generators operate in parallel, the whole PV/Diesel hybrid
system is subject to two main requirements to ensure its reli-
ability. They are: the frequency and the voltage stabilities at any
point of the electrical grid [25,26]. To ensure this, one approach
is to use a single Diesel generator (master) to set the frequency.
- During high PV generation and low load periods, there is a
possibility of reverse power flow, and consequently voltage rise
towards the low voltage feeder [26e29]. The use of several
Diesel generators partially solves this problem. And to avoid it
completely, it is necessary to use dispatchable loads as devel-
oped in the flexy-energy concept [13,29] and/or controllable
inverters.
According to these specifications, the following operational
strategy is prescribed for the control of PV/Diesel hybrid system
without battery storage. First, if the solar production is higher than
the demand, two solutions are possible:
- Dispatchable loads should be supplied by the system for the
plant operation optimization
- The solar penetration rate must be reduced by shutting down
some controllable inverters
Second, the load factor of each Diesel generator must be higher
or equal to 40%, (i.e. no Diesel generator should operate in a range
lower than 40% of its maximum power).
3. Technico-economic modeling of a batteryless PV/Diesel
hybrid
3.1. Technical model
3.1.1. Input data
Hourly solar irradiance and electrical demand are supposed
known and are considered as optimization parameters of the
hybrid system. Figs. 2 and 3 present the daily evolution of these two
parameters for a typical day at 2iE-K1 campus (the international
institute of engineering located at 15 km in north of Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso). For a real project design, optimization has to be
carried out on several typical days, representing week days and
weekend days for the demand, and taking into account seasonal
variations of the solar irradiation, as proposed by Leconte et al. [30]
for SCC (Solar Combined Systems).
Since this study aims at demonstrating the validity of the new
model developed for the batteryless PV/Diesel power plants, and
Fig. 2. Typical daily average of the solar irradiation of 2iE-K1 campus.
 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163 155

_ D ðtÞ ¼ W_ u ðtÞ  FPV h W _

W inv peak IG ðtÞ (5)

As for inverters, this power can be produced by one or several

Diesel generators of capacity w_ D j :
X
W_ D ðtÞ ¼ dj ðtÞw_ D (6)
j
ND

where dj(t) is defined as the load factor which varies with time. The
load factor is the ratio of the power supplied by a Diesel generator
over its maximum power. It ranges from 0 (Diesel generator off) to 1
(full load).
To better analyze the economical aspect of this system (the
economic model is further detailed in this paper), some parameters
linked to the Diesel generators dynamic operation are required and
Fig. 3. Daily load profile of 2iE-K1 campus. are studied below. They are: the load factor, the service duration for
each Diesel generator and the total specific fuel consumption. The
analysis of these different parameters leads to the optimal man-
for sake of simplicity, only the solar resource variability has been agement of the Diesel generators.
taken into account, by defining a typical day for each month. For the
electrical load, only one hourly based profile, representing a typical
weekday, is considered. 3.1.3. Optimal management of the diesel generators
For a Diesel generator, its hourly fuel consumption is deeply
linked to the load factor and its rated power [29,31]. It can be
3.1.2. Energy flux balances approximated by a linear function of the load factor [32].
The hybrid system is composed of PV panels characterized by
the total power W _ _ inv for f_ ¼ ðf0 þ f1 dÞw_ D
peak, Ninv (DC/AC) inverters of a capacity w (7)
each (with a total power of W _ ¼ N  _
w ) and ND Diesel gen-
inv inv inv
erators of the same capacity or size w_ D or different capacities with f_: fuel consumption, often expressed in (L/h)
w_ 1 ; w_ 2 ; /; w_ ND (with a total power of W _ D ¼ P w_ ). As the system
ND i
is designed for supplying the whole electrical load ðW _ u Þ, energy f0, f1: constant parameters obtained from literature or experi-
balance at time t writes: ments (L/kWh)

W_ ðtÞ þ W_ D ðtÞ  W_ u ðtÞ ¼ 0 (1) Notice that Eq. (7) leads to higher specific consumptions f (in L/
inv
kWh) when Diesel generators operate at weak loads [29]:
_ : electrical power supplied by the Ninv inverters (kW)
where W inv
f_ f
W_ D : electrical power supplied by the ND Diesel generators (kW) f ¼ ¼ 0 þ f1 (8)
dw_ D d

The solar electricity production can be expressed according to Hence, it is interesting to optimize the management of the
the peak power of the panels W _ Diesel generators in view to minimize the fuel consumption. Two
peak , the efficiency of the Inverter
(hinv) and a lost factor FPV that takes into account the solar field cases will be performed in this study: Diesel generators with same
losses. Reminding that the peak power of PV panels is related to a size w_ D and Diesel generators with different sizes w_ D j .
global irradiance IG ¼ 1 kW/m2, the power produced by the PV
panels writes: ✓ Diesel generators with the same size w_ D

_ pv ðtÞ ¼ FPV W_
peak IG ðtÞ
W (2) The number of required Diesel generators can be expressed
according to the maximum electrical demand, as the system must
The output power for the inverters is then deduced by the supply it, even if no sun is available (night or cloudy days):
following expression:  3
2
maxt W _ u ðtÞ
_ ðtÞ ¼ h W _ pv ðtÞ ¼ F h W _ ND ¼ 6 7
W inv inv PV inv peak IG ðtÞ (3)
6 7 (9)
6 w_ D 7
This power can be converted by several inverters, each of them
characterized by its capacity w_ inv, assumed to be equal for all of As w_ D j ¼ w_ D , the fuel consumption and the power load to be
them in this study. As the set of inverters must be designed for the provided by the Diesel generators at time t write:
peak load point, we have: X 
& ’ f_ðtÞ ¼ w_ D f0 þ f1 dj ðtÞ (10)
_
W peak maxðIG Þ Non ðtÞ
Ninv ¼ (4)
w_ inv
X
W_ D ðtÞ ¼ w_ D dj ðtÞ (11)
where Q:S denotes the “ceil function”. The “ceil function” is used to Non ðtÞ
round Ninv to the nearest integer greater than or equal to the ratio
obtained. where Non(t) is the number of Diesel generators running at a time t,
From Eqs. (1) and (2), Diesel production can be then deduced for Non ðtÞ  ND . Therefore, the fuel consumption only depends on
each hour: W_ D ðtÞ and Non(t):
156 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163

2 3 As previously, the fuel consumption does not depend on the

X load factors tj. Eq. (19) shows that, for a given power W _ D ðtÞ, the fuel
f_ðtÞ ¼ w_ D 4Non ðtÞf0 þ f1 dj ðtÞ5 ¼ Non ðtÞf0 w_ D þ f1 W_ D ðtÞ
consumption can be minimized by searching for the configuration
Non ðtÞ  
topt ¼ tND tND 1 / t1 leading to the highest capacity
(12) W_ max ðtÞ:

Eq. (12) shows that minimizing the number of running Diesel _ max ðtÞ ¼ ht; wD i
W (20)
generators at each hour will minimize the fuel consumption. As a
consequence, Non(t) could be chosen as:  
where wD ¼ wND wND 1 / w1 , and <u,v> denotes the scalar
& ’ product of vectors u and v.
W_ D ðtÞ
Non ðtÞ ¼ (13) The number of possible configurations Nc is equal to 2ND 1. Each
w_ D configuration can be described by a single integer k (1 < k < Nc), the
configuration t(k) becoming the value of k in binary base. At time t,
As the work time step is one hour (Dt ¼ 1 h), the daily average
the optimal configuration kopt is then searched by finding the
operating time T for each Diesel generator simply writes: _ max ðtðkÞÞ > W_ D ðtÞ:
lowest maximal capacity verifying W
X X
T¼ Non ðtÞ  Dt=ND ¼ Non ðtÞ=ND (14)
MinhtðkÞ; wD i with W_ ðtÞ  htðkÞ; w i  0 (21)
24 24 D D

Eq. (14) shows that minimizing the fuel consumption (i.e, _ max :
This problem is solved by computing the vector W
minimizing the number of Diesel generators in operation, Eq. (12)), 0 1 0 1
also minimizes the average operating time of the Diesel generators, tð1Þ W _ max ð1Þ
B C B _ C
and consequently the maintenance and replacement costs of these _ max ðwD Þ ¼ B tð2Þ C$wD ¼ B W
W max ð2Þ C (22)
units (as exposed in the next section). @ « A @ « A
Moreover, the linear law chosen for modeling the specific hourly tðNc Þ W_ max ðNc Þ
fuel consumptions makes these two quantities (hourly fuel con-
sumption f_ðtÞ and average operating time TðtÞ) independent of the and searching for its smaller element verifying the constraint
W_ max ðkÞ  WD ðtÞ. An example of calculation is given in appendix A.
load ratio d(t), which is still to be determined. As all the Diesel
generators have the same capacity and supply the required power The load factor dj(t) does not impact the total fuel consumption
in parallel to the electrical network, the equilibrium point will (Eq. (19)) and can be assumed identical for each generator. Thence,
naturally go to a state where all the load ratios are equal. In this we have, from Eq. (18):
case, the load ratio writes, using Eq. (11): ,
X  
dðtÞ ¼ W_ ðtÞ t kopt ðtÞ ; wD (23)
dðtÞ ¼ W_ D ðtÞ=ðNon ðtÞw_ D Þ (15) D
ND

Notice that each Diesel generator has its specific daily operation
time:
✓ General case: diesel generators with different sizes
X
24  
Systems composed by Diesel generators with different sizes are Tj ¼ tj kopt ðtÞ (24)
considered in this section. As previously developed, the total t¼1
required power of the Diesel generators must correspond to the Consequently, the management of Diesel generators with
maximum load: different sizes does not necessary minimize the maintenance and
X   replacement costs.
w_ D ¼ max W_u (16)
j
ND

If the Diesel generators are provided by a single constructor (i.e. 3.1.4. Optimization parameters, variables and objective function
same technology), we can reasonably assume that coefficients f0 Optimization parameters are, for each hour, the global irradi-
and f1 appearing in Eq. (8) do not depend much on their size. In that ance IG(t) and the electrical demand W _ u ðtÞ displayed on Figs. 2 and
3. The optimization variables are the peak power W _
case, the fuel consumption and the load power at a given time t peak of the solar
write: field, the capacity of the inverters w_ inv and the capacities of the
X Diesel generators w_ 1 ; w_ 2 ; /; w_ ND .
 
f_ðtÞ ¼ tj ðtÞ f0 þ f1 dj ðtÞ w_ D j
If equal size of Diesel generators is assumed, there are then only
three optimization variables: W _ _ inv and w_ D . These three var-
ND peak , w
X X iables are sufficient to completely design the system. Indeed, the
¼ f0 tj ðtÞw_ D j þ f1 tj ðtÞdj ðtÞw_ D j (17)
ND ND
number of the required inverters is determined by Eq. (4). The
required power for the Diesel generators is given by Eq. (5). Thence,
X Eqs (9) and (10)e(15) allow evaluating the number of Diesel gen-
W_ D ðtÞ ¼ tj ðtÞdj ðtÞw_ D (18)
j erators ND, the daily fuel consumption, the average daily operating
ND
time and all the load factors corresponding to an optimal man-
agement of the Diesel generators.
where tj is a digit, giving the state of generator j: OFF if tj ¼ 0 or ON
When Diesel generators with different sizes are under consid-
if tj ¼ 1. Eqs. (17) and (18) lead to:
eration, their number ND must be chosen in advance and becomes
X an additional optimization parameter. The number of variables is
f_ðtÞ ¼ f0 tj ðtÞw_ D j þ f1 W_ ðtÞ
D (19) _
then ND þ 2ðW _ inv ; w_ 1 ; w_ 2 ; /; w_ ND Þ. The design can then also
peak ; w
ND
be performed similarly.
 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163 157

The objective function chosen for this study is the NPC (Net
Present Cost) or the LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity). The next
section described the economic model developed for the LCOE/NPC
evaluation.
constant and then using NPC or LCOE as an objective function is
equivalent, and will lead to the same optimal solutions.
Both criteria require the knowledge of the investment, main-
tenance, operating, and replacement costs, and the salvage value.
Each of these terms is presented below:

3.2. Economic model 3.2.1. Investment costs

The economical parameters such as the discount rate, the
inflation rate and the costs of the different components of the
system in the selected area are considered known.
Two objective functions will be considered in this model: the
NPC (Net Present Cost) and the LCOE.
The NPC writes:
0
NPC ¼ CI þ USf ði; a; dÞ½CM þ Co  þ USf ði; a ; dÞCR
 PWDf ði; a; dÞ$S
For the three sub-systems (i.e. PV field, Inverters and Diesel
generators), specific investment cost in (V/kW) is expressed ac-
cording to the system capacity (in kW) by a power law:
bj
cI;j ¼ ai w_ j ðV=kWÞ (34)
where aj and bj are 2 positive constant parameters obtained from
statistical analysis of observed costs available in literature or from
data base [33,34].
(25) Investment cost is obtained by the following expression:

where CI, CM, Co, CR are respectively the Investment, Maintenance,  1bPV
CI ¼ aPV W_ þ Ninv ainv ðw_ inv Þ1binv þ ND aD ðw_ D Þ1bD
Operating and Replacement costs, S being the Salvage value at the peak

end of the project. All these quantities are expressed in V/year. In (35)
the above expression, USf stands for the uniform series present
worth factor and PWDf is the present worth discounted factor
expressed as followed:
3.2.2. Maintenance costs
d

X 
1þi j
USf ði; a; dÞ ¼ ✓ Solar system (PV panels þ Inverters)
j¼1
1þa

"
 #,

1þi 1þi d 1þi The solar system maintenance cost corresponds to the PV panels
¼ 1 1 (27) cleaning, landscape maintenance (grass moving) and electronics
1þa 1þa 1þa
supervising costs. It is generally taken as a percentage msolar of the

 annualized investment cost over the project lifetime [35]:
1þi d  
PWDf ði; a; dÞ ¼ (28) CM;solar ¼ msolar CI;PV þ CI;inv UCRf ða; dÞ (36)
1þa

i and a are respectively the inflation and interest rates in (%), d being Where UCRf is the Uniform Capital Recovery factor given by:
the project duration (year). 
 ,"
 #
a0 is the adjusted interest rate for periodic costs, such as 1þa 1þi d
UCRf ði; a; dÞ ¼ 1 1 (37)
replacement costs: 1þi 1þa

ð1 þ aÞdj
a0 ¼
ð1 þ iÞdj 1
with dj : life duration of the components j (year).
Note that for PV modules and inverters, the lifetime dj is known
(given by the manufacturers): it does not depend on the utilization.
Unlike, Diesel generators lifetime Tmax (hours) is related to their
real operating time, which depends on the design. It can be
determined from Eq. (14) for identical Diesel generators or from Eq.
(24) for Diesel generator with different sizes.
(29)
✓ Diesel generators
Apart from the general maintenance (drain, change of cooling
water and oil filter, glow plug …), the most critical points for the
maintenance of Diesel generators are Diesel starters, due to the
multiple starts/stops. Maintenance cost of the Diesel generators is
related to their annual operating time. The hourly maintenance
costs in V/h, is expressed by a linear law of the Diesel generators

 size [33]:
dD ¼ Tmax T N (30)
cm;D ¼ mD þ nD wD (38)


dD;j ¼ Tmax Tj N (31) Thence, annual maintenance cost writes:

where N is the number of operating days in one year. X

ND

The LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) is defined by: CM;D ¼ N cm;D Tj (39)
j¼1
NPC
LCOE ¼ (33) where N is the number of annual operating days.
USf ði; a; dÞ$W

where W is the annual production of electricity (kWh/year). 3.2.3. Operating costs

As the annually electricity production is considered constant, as Only Diesel generators generate operating costs, related to the
well as the economic parameters i, a and d, the denominator is hourly fuel consumption f_ðtÞ. Their expression is:
158 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163

3.3.3. Optimization method

X
24
Note that Eqs. (9), (13), (20) and (45) will generate non-
CO;D ¼ N cf f_ðtÞ (40)
differentiable and even non continuous NPC function. This non-
t¼1
continuity comes from the use of the ceil and floor functions
where cf represents the fuel price (V/L). which are clearly discontinuous. Thus, heuristic non differentiable
optimization methods are well adapted to our case. GA (Genetic
algorithms) have proven their ability to draw nearer the global
3.2.4. Replacement costs
optimum for hybrid energy systems [36,37], but nothing proves
The replacement costs appear periodically, the period being the
that the optimal solution found is a global optimum. GA is then
lifetime of the component. Assuming that the same technology is
used to approach the optimal solution and restraint the research
used when replacement occurs, the replacement cost is equal to the
space. Thereafter, the optimal solution is refined using a classical
investment cost:
descent method.
CR;j ¼ CI;j (41)
4. Case study of 2iE-K1 campus

4.1. Input data

3.2.5. Salvage value
The salvage value is evaluated through the ratio of the The model developed above has been applied to find the
remaining lifetime d0j at the end of the project and the lifetime dj of optimal batteryless PV/Diesel hybrid system capable to supply
the components: electricity to 2iE-K1 campus, which is located at 15 km far from
Ouagadougou (latitude 12 190 N and longitude: 1 400 W). A grid
d0j
Sj ¼ CI;j (42) analyzer allowed the power demand recording that gives the load
dj profile displayed on Fig. 3. It can be noticed that the energy demand
varies throughout the day, with a peak demand in the morning
d0j can be expressed according to the number Nr,j of replacements (from 8:am to 12:am) and another one in the afternoon (from 3:pm
during the project: to 6:pm).
  Solar data collected by the 2iE-K1 weather station enable to
Nr;j ¼ d dj (43)
represent each month by a typical day (by doing the average hourly
irradiation of each month). As an example, the typical hourly irra-
where P:R denotes the floor function. The “floor” function is used to
diation for March is displayed on Fig. 2.
round Nr,j to the nearest integer less than or equal to the ratio ob-
The economic and technical parameters used in the following
tained. By using Eq. (43), the remaining lifetime for component j
section are reported in Tables 1 and 2.
writes:
  
d0j ¼ dj  d  dj d dj (44) 4.2. Optimization procedure

The salvage value of component j becomes:

As above-mentioned, two cases are considered for this study:
    Diesel generators with the same size and three Diesel generators
Sj ¼ CI;j 1  d dj  d dj (45)
with different sizes.
In both cases, the hybrid optimal system is also compared to a
standalone Diesel generator system, this latter being optimized
3.3. Optimization approach with the same method.
The NPC is evaluated taking into account the seasonal variability
Two cases are investigated: Diesel generators with the same size of the hourly irradiance: for each 12 typical days (one/per month),
and Diesel generators with different sizes. the technical model simulates the operating mode of the systems.
Thence, the fuel consumption, the Diesel generator operating time
and the electrical energy production can be evaluated as well as the
3.3.1. Diesel generators with the same size
NPC on a year basis, in regard of the number of days per month: 28,
In this case, only three optimization variables have to be
_ 30 or 31 days.
considered: W _ inv and w_ D .
peak , w In the following sections, results concerning the time behavior
The following optimization problem without any constraint
of the system will be presented only for the month of March, but
(except the fact that all the variables are positive) is then obtained:
the optimization procedure has been carried out on a complete year
   estimation.
_ _ inv ; w_ D
Min NPC W peak ; w (46)

Table 1
Economical parameters values.

3.3.2. Diesel generators with different sizes PV acquisition factors aPV 3.5 V/Wp
ND þ 2 optimization variables are needed here: bPV 0.03
_ _ _ _ _ Diesel generators acquisitions factors aD 2.6 V/W
W peak ; w inv ; w 1 ; w 2 ; /; w N and the optimization problem writes:
D bD 0.72 V/W
   Inverters acquisition factors ainv 1.4 V/W
_ _ inv ; w_ 1 ; /; w_ ND
Min NPC W peak ; w (47) binv 0.27 V/W
Discount rate a 8%
It is again an optimization problem without constraint, but the Inflation rate i 4%
Fuel oil cost Cf 0.9 V/l
variables are considered positive here too.
 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163
Table 2
Technical parameters values.
PV mPV: maintenance rate of PV
dPV: PV lifespan
FPV: PV lost factor
Inverter dinv: Inverter lifespan
hinv: Inverter efficiency
Diesel generator Tmax: Diesel generator lifespan
f0: Specific consumption factor
f1: Specific consumption factor
Minimum Diesel generator load factor
4.3. Optimization results and discussion
4.3.1. Optimal design of PV/Diesel hybrid systems
Table 3 displays the optimal configurations of the PV/Diesel
hybrid systems obtained in order to meet the energy need of the
2iE-K1 campus (estimated at 820 MWh/year) as previously
described (Fig. 3).
The optimization results provides two solutions: 7 identical
Diesel generators of 26 kW coupled with 120 kWp of PV array; or 3
Diesel generators of different sizes (35 kW, 54 kW, 75 kW) with
150 kWp of PV array.
In both cases (identical Diesel generators or Diesel generators
with different sizes), Table 3 clearly shows that the optimized
power of the Diesel generators is almost the same for the hybrid
systems and for the standalone Diesel generator systems. The
fuel specific consumption is lower for the hybrid systems in
comparison with the standalone Diesel generator systems (it is
noted a reduction about 23e29% of the fuel specific consumption
in the two configurations). This fuel reduction is obtained thanks
to the solar energy penetration and the energy production
management.
Note also that it has been experimentally observed and reported
that hybrid system could lead to higher fuel consumption than
standalone Diesel generator systems in some conditions [14,29]:
operating at low load in a hybrid system could worsen the increase
of the specific fuel consumption of the Diesel generators in a way
that it degrades the overall performance of the hybrid system. This
effect will be illustrated in the next section. Therefore, as far as a
hybrid system design is concerned, special attention must be paid
to the design and management of the PV field and Diesel generator
to avoid this risk.
4.3.2. Daily operation
Fig. 4a shows the solar PV and the Diesel generators (of the same
size) production during a typical day of March. The demand is
satisfied at any time as the sum of solar output power and the
power produced by the Diesel generators (Eq. (1)). For instance,
between 12:am to 1:pm, 90 kW solar power is produced; the
Table 3
Characteristics of the optimized systems.
Solar system PV peak power
Inverters nominal power
Inverters number
Diesel generators Diesel generators number
Diesel generators
Maximum power
(each Diesel generator)
Daily gasoil consumption (in liters/day)
159
demand within this period is 120 kW and the Diesel generators
produce 30 kW, which is the remaining power to meet the demand.
2% The similar situation is observed with the hybrid system where
25 years different Diesel generators are under consideration, as displayed in
90% Fig. 4b.
8 years
90%
Fig. 5a and b illustrate the system management, by showing
30,000 h cumulative power of Diesel generators in operation (same size:
0.246 l/kWh Fig. 5a, different sizes: Fig. 5b). Note that, at any time of the day,
0.084 l/kWh there is at least one Diesel generator in operation, which ensures
40%
the reliability of the network (since there is no use of battery
storage).
Fig. 6a and b shows the load factors evolution for identical Diesel
generators and Diesel generators with different sizes. Except for the
period of 12:am to 2:pm where a relatively low load factor appears,
all the Diesel generators operate mostly between 70% and 100% of
their maximum power. This high load rate leads to quite low spe-
cific fuel consumption as shown on Fig. 7a and b.
The specific fuel consumption has been evaluated by two ways.
The first way refers to the hybrid system power output
ðf hybrid ¼ f_=W_ u Þ, while the second way refers to the power pro-
duced only by the Diesel generators ðf Diesel ¼ f_=W _ D Þ.
fhybrid gives the overall performance of the system, when fDiesel
refers to the performance of the Diesel generator only. It can be
seen that solar penetration degrades the Diesel generators perfor-
mance operating under partial loads: this induces an increase of
fDiesel up to 0.45 l/kWh, in comparison with 0.33 l/kWh obtained for
nominal loads (Fig. 7a and b). This fact explains why a non-optimal
design of hybrid systems could lead to higher consumption as
mentioned above [13,24]. This is not the case here (Fig. 7a and b),
and the solar penetration significantly reduces the system specific
consumption (fHybrid) despite the increase of (fDiesel).
4.3.3. Economic analysis
Table 4 details the different costs of the optimal hybrid systems
obtained, and compares them to a standalone Diesel generator
system, which can be taken as a reference.
The LCOE (or the NPC) of the optimized hybrid systems, for both
cases (identical Diesel generators or Diesel generator with different
sizes), are lower (12% and 14% less) than the standalone Diesel
generators. However, this gain in LCOE is paid by a great increase in
investment cost, which is approximately twice of the standalone
Diesel generator system investment cost. The increase of the in-
vestment cost is mainly due to the solar system components
additional costs because the size of the Diesel generators, as above-
mentioned, is almost the same, whatever is the power plant
configuration (hybrid or standalone Diesel generators). However,
this higher investment cost is compensated by the relatively high
maintenance and operation costs of the standalone Diesel gener-
ators compared to the ones of the hybrid systems.
Diesel generators with the same size Diesel generators with different sizes
Diesel generators PV/Diesel hybrid Diesel generators PV/Diesel hybrid
(standalone system) system (standalone system) system
/ 119 kWp / 150 kWp
/ 113 kW / 75 kW
/ 1 / 2
7 7 3 3
26 kW 26 kW N 1: 38 kW N 1: 35 kW
N 2: 53 kW N 2: 55 kW
N 3: 74 kW N 3: 75 kW
782 596 779 549
160 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163

Fig. 4. Daily state of PV/Diesel production. (a) 7 identical Diesel generators, (b) 3 generators with different capacities.

Fig. 5. Cumulative power of the Diesel generators set. (a): 7 Diesel generators with same capacity (26 kW). Due to the high solar penetration for March, only 5 are in operation. (b):
3 different size-Diesel generators (35 kW, 55 kW, 75 kW).

5. Comparison with HOMER
In view to validate the model, the optimized solutions has been
modeled and simulated with HOMER software. The four optimized
solutions presented in Table 3 have been simulated: standalone
Diesel generators/hybrid systems with Diesel generators with equal
and different sizes. As HOMER cannot simulate several inverters, a
single inverter of 150 kW has been simulated for the last case.
The same load profile (Fig. 3), and technico-economic parame-
ters (Tables 2 and 3) are used as input data in HOMER. Hourly solar
irradiance used in HOMER, provided by the NASA Surface Meteo-
rology &Solar Energy website through the geographic coordinates

Fig. 6. Hourly load factor of the Diesel generators. (a) 7 Diesel generators with same capacity (26 kW). (b): 3 different size-Diesel generators (35 kW, 55 kW, 75 kW).
 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163 161

Fig. 7. Diesel generators specific consumptions and Hybrid system consumption. (a) 7 Diesel generators with same capacity (26 kW). (b): 3 different size-Diesel generators (35 kW,
55 kW, 75 kW).

Table 4
Costs of the optimized systems.

Costs Diesel generators with the same size Deviation Diesel generators with different sizes Deviation

Diesel generators Hybrid PV/Diesel Diesel generators Hybrid PV/Diesel

(standalone system) (standalone system)

LCOE (V/kWh) 0.32 0.289 12% 0.32 0.284 14%

NPC (kV) 366.2 326.5 12% 365.5 321 14%
Investment (kV) PV 0 361.7 0 450.2
Inverter 0 43.7 0 64.7
Diesel generators 44.36 44.40 0% 23.2 23.18 0%
Total 44.36 449.8 90% 23.2 538.15 96%
Maintenance (kV) PV þ Inverter 0 11.4 0 14,453
Diesel generators 24 18.7 29% 121.26 88.94 36%
Total 24 30 20% 121.24 103.4 17%
Operations (kV) Diesel generators 3437 2596 32% 3420 2385 43%
Replacement (kV) Inverter 0 123,860 0 183,250
Diesel generators 170.95 129.31 32% 93.38 68.03 37%
Total 170.95 253.17 32% 93.38 251.28 63%
Salvage value (kV) PV 0 34.01 0 42.33
Inverter 0 10.29 0 15.22
Diesel generators 14.55 9.11 2.85 8.22
Total 14.55 53.40 2.85 65.77

of the studied site (12190 north and 1400 west) was used for the
both models.
Table 5 displays the comparison of NPC/LCOE between HOMER
simulation results and those of this study. The two models lead to
very similar results for the standalone Diesel generators. The results
obtained from the hybrid systems simulation are also close. This
comparison enables to validate the model developed in this study.
6. Conclusion
A model for a batteryless PV/Diesel hybrid system design and
optimization has been performed. This technico-economic model
allows optimizing the design and the operation of the hybrid sys-
tems by searching their lowest LCOE. The optimization method has
been applied to a real case study: 2iE-K1 campus. The results ob-
tained have shown that the PV/Diesel hybrid systems without

Table 5
Comparison with HOMER.

Standalone diesel generators PV/Diesel hybrid system Standalone diesel generators PV/Diesel hybrid system

LCOE (V/kWh) NPC (MV)

Diesel generators with the same size

This work 0.324 0.294 3.66 3.32
HOMER 0.331 0.293 3.79 3.35
Diesel generators with different sizes
This work 0.324 0.288 3.65 3.25
HOMER 0.320 0.287 3.67 3.26
162 D. Tsuanyo et al. / Energy 86 (2015) 152e163

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W: annual production of electricity, kWh
_ total output power, kW
W:
a: interest rate or Discount rate, %
a0 : adjusted interest rate, % _ maximum power of each component, kW
w:
ai: first statistical acquisition parameters of component i, V/kW w_ D j : maximum power of jth Diesel generator, kW
bi: second statistical acquisition parameter of component i
cf: fuel price, V/l Greek symbols
CI: total investment cost of the system, V
CM: annual maintenance cost of the system, V
Dt: hourly time step
Co: annual operating cost of the system, V
d: load factor of Diesel generators, %
CR: total replacement cost of the system, V
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DG: Diesel generator
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f: specific Diesel generator consumption, l/kWh
f_: hourly Diesel generator fuel consumption, l/h D: Diesel generator
f1, f2: fuel consumption parameters of Diesel generators, l/kWh inv: inverter
FPV: PV field loss factor, % PV: photovoltaic
Ig: global hourly irradiation, kW/m2 t: time
i: inflation rate, % u: user demand
mD: Diesel generator maintenance coefficient, V/l
msolar: maintenance factor of solar system (PV field and inverters), %