Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673

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Energy Strategy Reviews

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Feasibility and techno-economic analysis of stand-alone and grid-connected

PV/Wind/Diesel/Batt hybrid energy system: A case study
Barun K. Das a, *, Majed A. Alotaibi b, Pronob Das a, M.S. Islam a, c, Sajal K. Das d,
Md Alamgir Hossain e
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi, 6204, Bangladesh
b
Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia
c
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, Canada
d
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Rajshahi, 6204, Bangladesh
e
Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this study, the economic and environmental benefits of stand-alone and grid integration are thoroughly
Renewable energy analyzed with different system configurations of a PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery based hybrid energy system (HES)
Cost of energy for five different climatic regions using hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER). A detailed
Emissions
techno-economic study of optimized hybrid systems is further examined by integrating the grid-connected op­
Grid-integration
Stand-alone
tion. The environmental benefits of HESs are discussed. The sensitivity of various sell-back price to the national
grid is also investigated. Additionally, the barriers and opportunities of installing such projects in the off-grid
regions are discussed. Results indicate that the cost of energy (COE, $/kWh) and the net present cost (NPC, $)
of the stand-alone hybrid PV/Diesel/Battery for the Rajshahi region are slightly lower compared to other areas,
considering the cost and environmental emissions. The same system in Chattogram shows great potential both
financially and environmentally, over the other climatic zones. The grid-connected HES with the sell-back option
offers significant cost-benefits (0.07$/kWh), even over the grid tariff (0.10$/kWh). Similar revenues can be
attained with the grid-connected PV/Battery-based system as substantial amount of excess energy could be
supplied to the grid facilities. In the grid integrated HES, around 45,582 kg-CO2/yr could be saved compared to
grid only system, whereas this amount is 32,905 kg-CO2/yr over the stand-alone hybrid PV/Diesel/Battery one.

1. Introduction
The global energy demand is rising notably in the 21st century due to
economic development and increasing population. About 1.3 billion
people around the world still lack electricity, of which 80% live in rural
areas [1]. The extension of grid supply to rural off grid areas is difficult
due to geographic and economic limitations. In Bangladesh, among 160
million people, 144 million (90%) people have grid access. Power gen­
eration in Bangladesh is primarily governed by fossil fuel, where the
generation mix is comprised of natural gas (53.48%), furnace oil
(24.49%), diesel (11.71%), and coal (2.78%). As a result, the country’s
reserve of natural gas and coal is depleting at an alarming rate to meet
the energy demand of increasing population and rapid urbanization.
Moreover, the uprising power demand leads to environmental pollution.
Therefore, the promotion of renewable energy (RE) sources (e.g., solar,
wind, biomass, hydro, etc.) is a viable option to meet the increasing
energy demand and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well
[2–6]. Currently, the contribution to energy mix from the solar energy is
very negligible (0.14%) [7]. However, Bangladesh is enriched with solar
energy resources, where about 94% of the total areas receive solar
irradiation of 4–6.5 kWh/m2 with effective average sunshine hours of
6.5 per day [8]. Stand-alone small solar home systems (SHS) becomes
very popular in many areas because of its low maintenance cost.
Bangladesh has started the SHS program in early 2003 to bring remote
communities under electricity and the program received worldwide
recognition by installing about 5.5 million SHSs up to January 2019,
which satisfy the needs to 18 million people (12% of the total popula­
tion) in remote areas [9]. However, these SHSs are mainly designed for
limited energy supply only (3–4 h), especially at night. In addition, RE
sources are not reliable for continuous energy supply due to their

* Corresponding author. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Rajshahi, 6204, Bangladesh.
E-mail address: barunruet@gmail.com (B.K. Das).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2021.100673
Received 18 December 2020; Received in revised form 16 April 2021; Accepted 28 June 2021
Available online 22 July 2021
2211-467X/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
B.K. Das et al. Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673

Table 1
Summary of HES in different region around the world.
Hybrid options Methodology Off-grid/grid-connected Performance parameters Location

PV/Diesel/Battery [20] HOMER Off-grid COE, NPC, GHG, RF, Capital cost, battery autonomy. Algeria
PV/Diesel/Battery [21] HOMER Off-grid COE (0.21$/kWh), NPC ($0.110 M), GHG (27,678 kg/yr) Iraq
PV/Diesel/Battery [22] HOMER Off-grid COE (0.284$/kWh), NPC ($0.043 M), SC, IC India
PV/Diesel/Battery [23] PSO Off-grid COE (0.37$/kWh), NPC ($0.067 M), GHG Algeria
PV/Diesel/Battery [24] HOMER Off-grid COE (0.207$/kWh), NPC ($0.55 M), GHG, IRR, payback Benin
PV/Diesel/Battery [25] HOMER Off-grid COE (0.436$/kWh), NPC ($0.589 M), RF (42.55%) Nigeria
PV/Diesel/Battery [26] HOMER Off-grid RF (79%), COE, GHG Turkey
PV/Diesel/Battery [27] HOMER Off-grid COE (0.48$/kWh), NPC ($8.1 M), RF (57%) China
PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery [28] MOSaDE Off-grid COE (0.083 $/kWh), RF (95.51%) Saudi Arabia
PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery [29] MILP Off-grid COE, LPSP Australia
PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery [30] HOMER Off-grid COE (0.392$/kWh), NPC ($168,767) Bangladesh
PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery [31] HOMER Off-grid COE (0.279$/kWh), NPC ($17.15 M), RF (41.6%), CO2 (2,571,131 kg/yr) Malaysia
PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery [32] HOMER Off-grid COE (0.162 $/kWh) India
PV/Diesel/Fuel cell [33] Crow search Grid-connected LCOE, LPSP Iran
PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery [34] Monte Carlo Grid-connected Cost, CO2 emissions Hong Kong

intermittent, seasonal, and unpredictable nature [7,10,11]. Therefore,
these systems require either large energy storage or hybridization with
prime movers to satisfy the load demand. Hybridization of systems with
diesel engines and battery banks or the grid connected systems are
possible solutions for reducing the over dependency on storage devices
and increasing the reliability of the power supply [12–15].
Many studies reported that optimized hybrid energy systems (HESs)
are financially attractive and reliable. Shoeb et al. [16] investigated a
PV/Diesel-based HES with lead-acid battery storage for irrigation and
electrification of the rural community in Bangladesh. Halabi et al. [17]
analyzed different arrangements of PV/Diesel/Battery system using
hybrid optimization of multiple energy resources (HOMER) in Malay­
sian climatic conditions. They explained that PV/Diesel/Battery offers
best configuration with respect to economic, technical, and environ­
mental constraints compared to others. Guangqian et al. [18] optimized
an off-grid hybrid PV/Wind/Bio-diesel/Battery using hybrid harmony
search-simulated annealing (HS-SA) technique to minimize the life cycle
cost (LCC). The LLC from their study was found to be $20,534 for the
PV/Bio-diesel/Battery, whereas LCC for the
PV/Wind/Bio-diesel/Battery and the Wind/Bio-diesel/Battery were
$21,266 and $29,153, respectively. A grid-connected hybrid
PV/Wind/Biomass/Battery system is techno-economically optimized by
Ahmad et al. [19], who reported that the optimally selected HES has a
net present cost (NPC) of $180.2 million and the cost of energy (COE) of
0.05744 $/kWh.
In addition, environmental and techno-economic sustainability
analysis of various stand-alone HESs to electrify remote areas has been
introduced in many literatures. Aziz et al. [21] evaluated a PV/hy­
dro/Diesel/Battery system respect to techno-economic perspective to
meet the load requirements of a remote village in Iraq. Among the
different strategies, the study found that the PV/hydro/Diesel/Battery is
a more economical option with NPC of $113,201 and RE fraction of
91.3%. Jamshidi et al. [35] applied a multi-objective crow search al­
gorithm to a PV/Diesel/Fuel cell system considering the NPC and LPSP
as the objective functions. The study indicated that the NPC of $1.3
million at 0% loss of power supply probability (LPSP), which reduces to
$1.076 M at 10% LPSP. Baseer et al. [36] carried out a techno-economic
analysis of PV/Wind/Diesel with lead-acid battery to satisfy the
different load requirements at Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. They
analyzed that higher load demand lowers the COE for PV/Wind/Die­
sel/Battery system and changing load from 11,160 kWh/day to 3288
kWh/day results in increasing COE form 0.183 $/kWh to 0.24 $/kWh
while the COE for PV/Wind is 0.25 $/kWh. Bilir and Yildirim [37]
modeled and analyzed the performance of the same HES for residential
applications in five different regions of Europe. It is revealed from the
analysis that the simple payback period for Madrid, Paris, Izmir, Hel­
sinki, and Budapest are 7, 13.6, 16.7, 16.8, and 25.5 years, respectively.
Although there are numerous studies found in the literature
considering off-grid HESs, the grid-connected hybrid option is rarely
investigated, as reported in Table 1. However, Ren et al. [38] investi­
gated a grid-connected hybrid PV/Fuel cell/Battery option for the
electrification of residential buildings and reported that the electricity
buy-back has substantial effects on the residential hybrid option per­
formance. A grid-connected PV/Wind system is optimized using particle
swarm optimization (PSO) technique by Mohamed et al. [39] and found
that the proposed system would be a profitable venture. Ndwali et al.
[40] used mixed integer linear programing (MILP) for the optimization
of a grid integrated PV system and reported that around 64.16% energy
saving could be achieved. But, none of the above studies are hybridized
with the diesel generators. Fodhil et al. [23] optimized a PV/Die­
sel/Battery option using PSO technique and compared with the HOMER
software tool. Results in their analysis reported that the COE slightly
lower (0.38$/kWh) than that of the HOMER (0.40$/kWh). In addition,
the PV contribution to the total energy generation was comparable. In
this study, HOMER sizing tools are used due to its simplicity [41] and
quick searching ability [42] in sizing the HES components. Optimal
sizing and energy management strategies (EMSs) for the fuel cell based
off-grid PV/Wind systems are reviewed by Bukar and Tan [43]. It is
evident that the EMS plays a crucial role for system sizing and technical,
economical, and environmental indicators are the main criteria for the
sizing optimization of the HESs. Despite using the standard HOMER
software tool, the study is extended the analysis beyond standard ap­
plications of it by thoroughly investigating the objective functions and
the different consequential performance indicators. In addition, the
study develops an implementational model for the HES with its chal­
lenges and opportunities.
Although many studies have been reported for a particular climatic
zone, this study goes further to analysis the techno-economic, environ­
mental feasibility of a stand-alone HES for five major cities in
Bangladesh. Power generation in Bangladesh largely depends on fossil
fuels, particularly on natural gas, coal, and imported heavy fuel oil
(HFO). As an energy-starved country, energy security is a major issue for
the country’s economic and sustainable development. Therefore, the
integration of RE into the energy mix is essential. Besides, electrification
of the off-grid areas through RE sources, where grid connection is not
economically viable, could be a potential alternative to confront future
energy crisis. Having a higher potential of RE sources, the imple­
mentation of such project is still far from reality. Moreover, the potential
application of HES in different regions of Bangladesh have not been
properly addressed in literature. Therefore, the key objectives of the
present study are set as to: (i) investigate both the hybrid stand-alone
and grid-connected system and analyse the system from the technical,
economical, and environmental perspective, (ii) compare different sys­
tem configurations and proposed the optimum sizing of various hybrid
components, (iii) analyse the integration of PV/Diesel and PV only op­
tions into the grid, meeting similar load demand and compared with the

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stand-alone HES, which is rarely studied in the literature, (iv) examine
the sensitivity of the grid sell-back price, net energy purchase on the
system sizing, and (v) discuss the barriers and opportunities along with
the implementation model of HES for the grid inaccessible area
application.
This research is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the expla­
nation of the proposed method; Section 3 describes the results of system
configurations and final section is related to the conclusion of the
research with some recommendations.
2. Methodology
A schematic layout of the proposed HES with its component PV
module, wind turbine, diesel engine, and battery bank are illustrated in
Fig. 1. In this system, the PV module and battery are linked to the DC
bus, while the diesel generator and wind turbine are connected to the AC
bus. The load demand is connected to the AC bus. The energy flows from
DC bus to AC bus for meeting the load demand or vice-versa to charge
the battery through a bi-directional converter. The excess energy from
the renewables (PV/Wind) after satisfying the electricity demand and
charging the battery is dumped.
2.1. Load requirement and meteorological resource data
The realistic total electrical load is the crucial part of hybrid system
design and additional factors are considered while generating a load
profile. The electric load requirement in this study is carefully estimated
by the survey of the studied areas as the historical load demand is not
available. As such, personal judgement, consultation with the electric
supply authority, expert opinions, end user preferences of using house­
hold appliances and published literature are considered to estimate the
load profile. In addition, the income level, social status, household
works pattern as well as the commercial activities of the region are also
considered for selecting the load. Furthermore, the load requirements
for the residential application of the studied areas are estimated in as­
sociation with the similar studies carried out within Bangladesh
[44–46]. Although many households in the remote areas are connected
to the solar PV systems, they are designed to light up the household and
shops and to power the television, fans, and mobile charger. In most
cases, the solar home system (SHS) in Bangladesh is designed only to
support basic load demand (2–3 energy saving lights or a fan) for 3–4 h
daily only [47,48]. Unlike the solar PV system, the proposed HES
(PV/Wind/Diesel/Batt) is intended to supply reliably energy demand to
the remote off-grid areas for all the household appliances considered
(Table 2). A medium-income family is selected to obtain the load profile,
and the load demand is calculated from the appliances used in the home
based on Table 2 for Rajshahi region as a representative case. The load
demand is estimated for two distinct seasons such as summer (March to
October) and winter (November to February) prevailing in the studied
areas. The total load demand for a single facility is 12.55 kWh/day while
the community load demand with 50 similar households is computed as
627.5 kWh/day with a peak load demand of 133.28 kW. The system is
designed to meet the higher peak demand in summer so as to reliably
satisfy the all the electric demand. In this present study, five different
geographical regions (marked) of Bangladesh, as shown in Fig. 2 has
been considered. As the income level and social status are different
among the different regions, the load requirements are varied slightly. It
is observed that the total load demand for the Chattogram, Dhaka,
Khulna, Barishal are 646.35 kWh/day with peak load of 137.29 kW,
658.88 kWh/day with peak load of 139.95 kW, 640.05 kWh/day with
peak load of 135.95 kW, and 608.88 kWh/day with peak load demand of
129.31 kW, respectively. The hourly time resolved load demand over the
year is presented in Fig. 3 for the Rajshahi region. In this analysis, the
effects of uncertainty of load demand and the solar irradiation on the
COE are also presented.
The geographic location of Bangladesh is ideal for harnessing solar
energy since it receives solar irradiation all over the year. The
geographic detailed of the studied areas are reported in Table 3. It shows
that Rajshahi has the highest average clearness index of 0.54, followed
by Chattogram (0.52) and Barishal (0.51). The monthly average solar
irradiation and clearness index for the five different locations are pre­
sented in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, respectively. All the meteorological data for
the different study locations were collected from NASA within HOMER.
Fig. 4 demonstrates that highest solar irradiation is received in April,
whereas the lowest is in September. Rajshahi receives the highest solar
irradiation (6.33 kWh/m2/day) during the summer season (March­
–June), while Barishal is the lowest solar exposure area (5.65 kWh/m2/
day) during the same season. However, the Rajshahi area has the lowest
solar irradiation (4.29 kWh/m2/day) during the winter, similar to the
other areas like Dhaka, Khulna, and Barishal; however, Chattogram re­
ceives comparatively higher irradiation during this season.
Fig. 5 illustrates the average wind velocity at the different study
locations. It has observed that Chattogram has a greater wind speed
(annual average 3.55 m/s) compared to the other locations since it is
situated in the coastal area of Bangladesh.

Table 2
Estimation of load demand for a single house in a rural village in Rajshahi.
Load Power No. Summer Winter
rating in (March–October) (November–February)
(W) use
Operating Wh/ Operating Wh/
time (h/ day time (h/ day
day) day)

Light CFL 25 10 6 1500 7 1750

Ceiling fan 70 5 10 3500 2 700
Table fan 50 2 4 400 0 0
Iron 1000 1 0.25 250 0.50 250
Computer 150 1 5 750 5 750
TV 100 1 8 800 8 800
Refrigerator 150 1 24 3600 24 3600
Microwave 2100 1 0.5 1050 0.5 1050
oven
Water pump 1000 1 0.50 500 0.50 500
Mobile 7 5 2 70 2 70
charger
Grinder 500 1 0.25 125 0.25 125
Total demand 12.55 9.60
kWh/ kWh/
Fig. 1. Schematic layout for the proposed hybridized system for the application
day day
of different regions.

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Fig. 2. Study locations in Bangladesh.

2.2. System components modelling and economic input data

In this system analysis, the HES comprises of a PV module, and a

wind turbine as renewable sources, a diesel generator as a backup,
battery as a storage medium, and a bi-directional converter. The detailed
technical and economic data are presented in the subsequent subsection.

2.2.1. Renewable resources modelling

PV module: The output power Ppv (t) of the PV generator during hour
t of the year is calculated by Equation (1) [49], whereby, RPV is the rated
Fig. 3. Hourly load demand for the Rajshahi region.

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Table 3
Geographical, climatic, and load details of the selected areas.
Name of the Geographical Map Average solar irradiation Average clearness Average wind speed Annual load demand Peak load
area coordinations location (kWh/m2/day) index (m/s) (kWh) (kW)

Rajshahi 24◦ 22.5′ N and North 4.88 0.54 2.64 228,991 133.28
88◦ 30.0′ E
Chattogram 22◦ 21.4′ N and South-east 4.56 0.52 3.55 235,857 137.39
91◦ 47.0′ E
Dhaka 23◦ 48.6′ N and Center 4.65 0.52 2.56 240,413 139.95
90◦ 24.8′ E
Khulna 22◦ 50.7′ N and South-west 4.56 0.51 2.46 233,558 135.95
89◦ 32.4′ E
Barishal 22◦ 42.1′ N and South- 4.52 0.50 2.64 222,194 129.31
90◦ 21.2′ E central

from mechanical of the wind. The power output from a wind turbine at
normal pressure and temperature can be expressed by Equation (2) [52].
⎧
() ()
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ 0, v t ≤ vcut− in or v t ≥ vcut− out
⎨
( 3( )
PWT (t) = v t) − v3cut− in (2)
⎪
⎪ Pr 3 3
vr − vcut− in
, vcut− in < v(t) < vr
⎪
⎪
⎩ Pr , vr ≤ v(t) < vcut− out

Fig. 4. Monthly average solar irradiation for different regions in Bangladesh.
where Pr, Vr, Vc-in, and Vc-out denotes the rated power, rated velocity,
cut-in velocity, and cut-out velocity of the wind turbine. Additionally,
wind velocity depends on altitude and wind velocity at a definite level.
More details can be found related to wind turbine modelling from
literature [53].
A 10 kW wind turbine having a hub height 18 m, with a cut-in speed
2.6 m/s, a rated speed 6.5 m/s, and a cut-off speed 16 m/s is considered
for this system sizing [54]. The lifetime of the wind turbine is 20 years
and the capital investment, replacement, and O&M costs for the wind
turbine are considered to be 4000 $/kW, 3200 $/kW, and 200 $/yr,
respectively [55].

2.2.2. Diesel generator modelling

Fig. 5. Monthly average wind velocity for different regions in Bangladesh.
capacity (kW), DPV is the PV derating factor (%), GT is incident solar
radiation (kW/m2), GT,STC incident radiation in STC (standard test
conditions), αP is power temperature coefficient (%/◦ C), Tcell and Tcell,STC
is the cell temperature (◦ C) at operating and STC condition, respectively.
) fuel cost (diesel fuel) is considered to be 0.70 $/l.
( ) GT (t) [ )]
Ppv t = Rpv Dpv ( 1 + αp (Tcell (t) − Tcell, STC (1)
GT,STC
The detailed mathematical modelling related to Tcell can be obtained
from literature [50].
A monocrystalline solar module of capacity 327 W has been
considered in this study. The panel efficiency and derating factor is
taken as 21.4% and 88%, respectively. The lifetime of the proposed HES
is chosen as 25 years based on the maximum lifetime of PV module. The
capital cost for the PV module is 1300 $/kW with no replacement cost
since the lifetime of this PV module is equal to the project lifetime [51].
However, the system requires only 10 $/kW/yr to maintain its proper
functioning [17]. No tracking arrangement is considered in this study.
Wind turbine: The purpose of a turbine to produce electrical energy
In this study, a diesel generator of 50 kW capacity is selected.
HOMER assumes that the fuel consumption curve for a diesel generator
is a straight line. The fuel consumption for a 50 kW generator is calcu­
lated using Equation (3) [50], whereby a is the co-efficient due to the
fuel curve intercept (1.65 l/h/kW) and b is the slope of the fuel curve
(0.267 l/h/kW) [9]. In addition, RDG is the diesel generator’s rated ca­
pacity (50 kW), and PDG (t) is the power generation at any time interval.
FDG (t) = aRDG + bPDG (t) (3)
The costs associated with capital investment, replacement, and O&M
are 370$/kW, 296$/kW, and 0.05$/h/kW of operation, respectively
[56], where the lifetime of the generator is chosen as 15000 h [57]. The
2.2.3. Battery modelling
In this study, lead-acid is considered for simulation, which receives
surplus energy during charging and provides energy at the time when RE
sources are unable to satisfy load requirements. The maximum amount
of power that can be absorbed by a battery system is given by Equation
(4) [9,58], whereby Qs (t) refers to the available energy at the beginning
of the time step and above minimum state of charge level (BOCmin =
20% for lead acid battery), Q(t) refers to the total energy at the begin­
ning of the time step, c is the storage capacity ratio, k is the storage rate
constant, and Δt is the amount of time in the time step.
kQs (t)e− k + Q(t)kc(1 − e− kΔt )
Pb (t) = (4)
1 − e− kΔt + c(kΔt − 1 + e− kΔt )

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B.K. Das et al. Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673

The maximum battery discharge power can be calculated with
Equation (5) [9,58], where Qmax is the total capacity of the storage.
− kcQmax + kQs (t)e− kΔt + Q(t)kc(1 − e− kΔt
)
Pb (t) = (5)
1 − e− kΔt + c(kΔt − 1 + e− kΔt )
A lead-acid battery (Model: Surrette 6CS25P) of nominal capacity
6.91 kWh (1150Ah) having a nominal voltage of 6 V and round-trip
efficiency of 80% is considered in the study. The capital, replacement,
and O&M costs of the battery are 1100 $/unit, 1000 $/unit, and 10 $/yr,
respectively [59]. The minimum state of charge for the battery has
selected as 20% for the longevity of the battery [60]. The battery life­
time can be expressed in number of years or cycles during charge/di­
scharge process. The present study considers the number of years in
accordance with the literature [59]. The battery has a lifetime of 12yr
and the corresponding lifelong throughput of 6879.60 kWh.
2.2.4. Bi-directional converter
A bidirectional converter to transform DC power to AC power or vise-
versa is used, since the solar PV and battery bank deliver DC power
output, and the load is in AC mode. HOMER calculates the size of the
converter automatically based on the energy flow through the buses
using Equation (6) [61], where Po (t) is the output power from inverter
and Pi (t) is the power input to the inverter.
() ()
Po t = Pi t × ηinv (6)
The present study considers a 1 kW bi-directional converter with an
efficiency of 95% and a lifetime of 15yr. The capital cost, and replace­
ment costs are 800$/kW and 750$/kW, respectively [62].
2.3. Economic analysis
In this study, the optimal sizing is determined based on the lowest
COE and the NPC of the system configuration. HOMER determines the
COE using Equation (7) [50], whereby CACC , CARC , and CAOM are the
annualized capital cost, annualized replacement cost, and the annual­
ized operation and maintenance cost, respectively, and EAES is the
annualized electricity served.
CACC + CARC + CAOM
COE = (7)
EAES
On the other hand, the NPC is calculated from Equation (8), whereby
CRF(i, n) is the capital recovery factor and can be found by using
Equation (9) [63].
set having an operating cost of 0.05$/h/kW has been considered. This
includes within the annual operating and maintenance costs of the diesel
generator. The technical details of the hardware components are pre­
sented in Table 4. In this analysis, the costs associated with the civil
works, land purchase, fabrication and installation, piping and instru­
mentation have not been considered.
2.4. HOMER optimization
In the present study, HOMER software tool is used to determine the
optimal sizing based on the lower COE and the NPC. It works on three
different steps. In the first step, the system configuration (presented in
Fig. 1), electric load demand of selected community and the meteoro­
logical data such as solar irradiation, wind velocity, and ambient tem­
perature of the study area are selected. The technical details (Table 4)
and costs of all the hardware components required for this system are
entered HOMER software. In the second step, using the above data,
HOMER software performs the analysis based on lower COE and NPC
and gives a set of different system configurations. In this context, each of
the system configuration is designed to satisfy the specified load demand
and some other technical and environmental constraints such as excess
energy, renewable penetration, battery characteristics etc. In the final
stage, the results are then compared based on the techno-economic and
environmental preferences and the optimized system configuration is
chosen. The widely acceptable consequential performance indicators
such as excess energy, unmet load, renewable fraction are also analyzed.
HOMER follows different operating strategies while optimizing the
system configurations.
2.5. Operating strategy and constraints
An operating strategy is a control algorithm that switches devices
according to load requirements. HOMER employs several dispatch
strategies like load following, cyclic charging, combined dispatch,
generator order, and customized dispatch strategies linked to MATLAB.
Among these, load following, and cyclic charging are widely used for
techno-economic analysis. In the load following strategy, the generator
works to satisfy the load demand in absence of renewable sources, which
leads to higher RE penetrations with lower emissions [7,17]. Therefore,
a load following strategy has been considered for the present study,
which is reported in Fig. 6. In this strategy, power generation from PV
(PPV(t)) and Wind (PWind(t)) is compared with the load demand. If there
is surplus energy (PNet(t) > 0), after meeting the demand (PLoad (t)), the
rest is used to charge the battery till BSOC,max and the surplus energy is

CACC + CARC + CAOM Table 4

NPC = (8)
CRF(i, n) Technical characteristics hardware components [9,64–66].
Components Characteristics Values
i(1 + i)n
CRF(i, n) = (9) PV module Nominal power 327 W
(1 + i)n − 1
Panel efficiency 21.4%
Rated voltage 54.7 V
where n is the number of years, and i is the real annual interest rate,
Rated current 5.98 A
which is calculated using Equation (10), whereby, i is the nominal in­
′
Open circuit voltage 64.9 V
terest rate and f is the annual inflation rate. The present study considers Short circuit current 6.46 A
a 10% discount rate and a 2% possible inflation rate. Diesel generator Rated capacity, RDG 50 kW
Fuel curve intercept coefficient, F1 1.65L/h
′
i − f Fuel curve slope, F2 0.267 L/h/kW
i= (10) Wind turbine Rated capacity 10 kW
i′ + f
Rated wind speed 6.5 m/s
In addition, the salvage value of the power components at the end of Cut-in speed 2.6 m/s
Cut-off speed 16 m/s
project lifetime can be determined by using Equation (11), whereby Crep Hub height 18 m
refers to the replacement cost ($), Lrem represents the remaining lifetime Battery Nominal capacity 6.91 kWh
at the end of project, and Lcom refers to the componens lifetime. Nominal voltage 6V
Roundtrip efficiency 80%
Lrem DoD 20%
S = Crep (11)
Lcom Bi-directional converter Rated power, Pinv 1 kW
Conversion efficiency, ηinv 95%
In this study, the operating hour of 15000 h for the diesel generator

6
B.K. Das et al.
dumped. However, if there is deficit of electricity and battery charge is
available to meet the demand, by discharging, battery supplies load
otherwise diesel generator supplies the required load demand.
HOMER gives optimized configurations that satisfy the specified
technical and economic constraints. A nominal discount rate of 10% and
an inflation rate of 2% were considered for economic analysis.
3. Results and discussion
The present research analyses the potential of stand-alone HESs in
five different locations of Bangladesh. The HES of each location is
identified based on the cost-effectiveness and environmental indicators.
The results are evaluated in terms of COE, NPC, PV capacity, diesel
generator contribution, battery capacity, bi-directional converter ca­
pacity, excess energy production, and RE penetration. The study further
examines the HES with the grid connection and compare with the stand-
alone system. The sensitivity of different grid purchase scenarios and
sell-back price are studied. Results of the analysis for different locations
are summarized in following sections.
3.1. Techno-economic analysis of hybrid options for rajshahi region
An overview of optimized results for various system configurations at
Rajshahi city is reported in Table 5. It has been observed that the COE
and the NPC are the lowest for the stand-alone PV/Diesel/Battery system
with 0.28$/kWh and $692,694, respectively due to its lower initial,
replacement and O&M cost. This system entails a 102 kW PV module, a
Fig. 6. LF dispatch strategy for optimal sizing of the hardware components.
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Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673
100 kW diesel generator, 381 kWh battery storage, and a 56 kW bi-
directional converter. The capacity of bi-directional converter is deter­
mined based on the highest energy flow from the DC bus to the AC bus or
vise-versa. Fig. 7 shows the energy mix data for different hardware
components. It is clearly identified that the peak load demand occurs
between 6 and 8PM and there is no solar power available at that time.
Therefore, the power demand for the PV/Diesel/Battery option is met by
the diesel generator and the battery (power flow through bi-directional
converter) as reported in Fig. 7. However, during the daytime when PV
power generates higher than the load requirements, the additional en­
ergy is used to charge the battery (Fig. 7). In this context, despite having
higher PV capacity, the bi-directional converter capacity much lower in
system sizing. This is also supported by the other studies as well
[67–69]. Additionally, the hybrid PV/Diesel/Battery option is compa­
rable with the PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery with the addition of a 10 kW
wind turbine. However, the later one has a slightly higher COE (0.29
$/kWh) and NPC ($716,366). This is because of lower wind velocity of
the Rajshahi region that attributes to the smaller contribution from wind
turbine but at increased cost. The RE fraction (61–62%) and the excess
energy (21,284–22,398 kWh/yr) generation for the both systems are
comparable. In contrast, PV/Battery system has the highest COE and the
NPC due to the larger PV module and battery storage to satisfy the load
demand which leads to the higher cost and generates larger excess en­
ergy (494,549 kWh). Halabi et al. [17] reported that the optimized
PV/Diesel/Battery one has a COE of 0.302$/kWh, which is similar to the
present study. In another study, Hossain et al. [31] found that the COE
for the optimized hybrid PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery is 0.28$/kWh in the
B.K. Das et al. Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673

Malaysian condition. In addition, the COE for the hybrid PV/Die­

sel/Battery (0.28$/kWh) is lower than the Wind/Diesel/Battery (0.32
$/kWh) and the diesel only (0.31$/kWh) options.
Fig. 8 illustrates the cost summary of different system components
for the stand-alone hybrid PV/Diesel/Battery system. The major capital
investment requires for the PV module followed by the battery. Though
the battery storage system has higher replacement cost during the
project lifetime, the resource cost (mainly fuel cost) is predominantly
higher compared to the capital investment. Therefore, this HES requires
continuous financial injection to maintain the proper functioning of the
system. Diesel generator contributes maximum energy at the higher load
demand as presented in Fig. 9. The monthly average energy generation
from PV module is lower in summer season compared to the winter due
to the persistent rain that induces cloud coverage during the summer.

3.2. Techno-economic analysis of hybrid options for chattogram region

Fig. 7. Time series data of energy mix in summer (July).

Table 6 depicts optimum results for different configurations in

Chattogram region. The COE is again found to be minimal for PV/
Diesel/Battery as 0.284$/kWh, while the COE for PV/Wind/Diesel/
Battery, PV/Battery, Wind/Diesel/Battery, and diesel only options are
0.291$/kWh, 0.56$/kWh, 0.323$/kWh, and 0.31$/kWh, respectively.
The NPC ($724,884) is the lowest for the PV/Diesel/Battery system,
which is comparable with the PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery ($744,196),
whereas, the NPC for the PV/battery is higher among them
($1,414,303). Although the COE and the NPC for PV/Diesel/Battery are
comparable with the PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery options, the PV capacity
and battery storage are lower than the previous system and delivers
minimum excess energy of 11,994 kWh. The renewable penetration Fig. 8. The cost summary for stand-alone PV/Diesel/Battery option
meeting the load requirements are 72%, 68% and 100% for PV/Diesel/ for Rajshahi.
Battery, PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery, and PV/Battery respectively.
Although the costs associated with capital investment is higher due to O&M costs are minimum for PV/Diesel/Battery, the COE is lower at
the PV module and battery bank, the resource cost is lower than the 0.284$/kWh. The COE for the PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery is comparable
hybridized system in the Rajshahi region as illustrated in Fig. 10. In with the PV/Diesel/Battery, but the stand-alone PV/Battery has a higher
addition, the renewable penetration is higher in this location (72%) COE of 0.521$/kWh. It is noted that the PV-based has a lower COE and
compared to the Rajshahi region. Fig. 11 presents the monthly average NPC than these of the wind-based and diesel only system. In contrast, the
energy contributions from the different sources while satisfying the load NPC shows similar trend. Moreover, the RE penetration and the gener­
requirements. ation of excess energy show a similar trend. In summary, the addition of
wind turbine to the PV/Diesel/Battery system does not have any
3.3. Techno-economic analysis of hybrid options for dhaka region financial benefits but increases the complexity of the HES architecture.
Fig. 12 represents the cost summary for stand-alone PV/Diesel/Battery
The summary of the optimum results for various configurations in options for Dhaka. It shows that the resource cost is higher than the
the Dhaka region is shown in Table 7. Since the initial, replacement, and capital investments due to the higher contribution of the diesel gener­
ator to meet the load requirement. The battery replacement cost is
Table 5
significantly higher than the other components. The higher contribution
Summary of optimized results for Rajshahi. from diesel generator is required at a greater load demand as illustrated
in Fig. 13.
System PV/ PV/Wind/ PV/ Wind/ Diesel
Diesel/ Diesel/ Battery Diesel/ only
Battery Battery Battery
3.4. Techno-economic analysis of hybrid options for khulna region
COE ($/kWh) 0.28 0.29 0.52 0.32 0.31
NPC ($) 692,694 716,366 1,280,266 811,616 780,545 Table 8 represents the optimum results for various configurations in
PV capacity 102 104 475 – –
(kW)
the Khulna region. Like, the other regions, the PV/Diesel/Battery offers
Wind capacity – 10 – 10 – minimum a COE of 0.29$/kWh and an NPC of $730,674 compared to
(kW)
Diesel 100 100 – 150 150
generator
(kW)
Battery 381 381 2308 48.4 –
capacity
(kWh)
Bi-directional 56 55 141 9 –
converter
(kW)
Excess energy 21,284 22,398 494,549 32 0
(kWh)
Renewable 61 62 100 1 0
fraction (%) Fig. 9. Monthly average energy share for meeting load requirements stand-
alone PV/Diesel/Battery option for Rajshahi.

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B.K. Das et al. Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673

Table 6 excess energy of 525,655 kWh with 100% renewable contribution. The
Summary of optimized results for Chattogram. capital cost is higher here due to the higher investment for the PV
System PV/ PV/Wind/ PV/ Wind/ Diesel module and the battery storage as reported in Fig. 16. The contribution
Diesel/ Diesel/ Battery Diesel/ only of solar energy is slightly higher in Barishal region as compared to
Battery Battery Battery Khulna and Rajshahi as presented in Fig. 17.
COE ($/kWh) 0.284 0.291 0.56 0.323 0.310
NPC ($) 724,884 744,196 1,414,303 823,466 792,112 3.6. Environmental emissions
PV capacity 129 119 487 – –
(kW)
Wind capacity – 10 – 10 –
Annual environmental emissions arise from the amount of fuel
(kW) consumption by the diesel generator per year. Table 10 shows a com­
Diesel 100 100 – 150 150 parison of different types of pollutants emitted per year at different
generator study locations of Bangladesh. In the absence of renewable sources and
(kW)
battery storage, the load demand is satisfied by the diesel generator
Battery 673 646 2706 48.4 –
capacity only. As a result, higher diesel consumption consequently increases
(kWh) emissions in the environment. Fig. 18 illustrates annual diesel fuel
Bi-directional 53 55 204 8 – consumption and corresponding CO2 emissions and for different loca­
converter tions. Rajshahi consumes the highest amount of diesel fuel and has lower
(kW)
Excess energy 18,173 11,994 480,442 51 0
renewable penetration (Fig. 19) compared to the other locations, and
(kWh) producing around 94,929 kg CO2 per year, followed by Dhaka, which
Renewable 72 68 100 1 0 emits 89,709 kg/yr of CO2. On the other hand, in Chattogram, the diesel
fraction (%) generator consumes the least amount of fuel, resulting in 70,505 kg of
CO2 per year. The same system also emits CO2 74,918 kg/yr and 77,639
kg/yr in Barishal and Khulna city, respectively. Besides CO2 emission,
PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery (COE 0.30 $/kWh and NPC $755,030), PV/
other pollutants such as CO, SO2, NOx, UHC, and PM is higher at Raj­
Battery (COE 0.54 $/kWh and NPC $1,368,180), Wind/Diesel/Battery
shahi, followed by Dhaka, Khulna, Barishal, and Chattogram. These
(COE 0.324 $/kWh and NPC $817,837), and diesel only (COE 0.311
emissions have climate change concerns, as well as numerous health
$/kWh and NPC $786,113) respectively. The PV/Diesel/Battery system
concerns. The environmental emissions for the PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery
is comprised of a 125 kW PV module, 100 kW capacity diesel generator,
system (Table 11) for the studied areas are comparable to these of the
652 kWh battery storage, and 52 kW bi-directional converter and gen­
PV/Diesel/Battery (Table 10) due to the insignificant contribution of
erates 14,212 kWh excess energy with a 68% renewable fraction. The
wind energy to the total load demand. However, the hybrid PV/Diesel/
PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery has similar sizing of components with the
Battery system generates much lower environmental emissions
addition of a 10 kW wind turbine and generates similar excess energy
(Table 10) compared to the diesel only system (Table 12). In fact, diesel
and have same RE fraction of 68%. Unlike Dhaka and Rajshahi, the
only system generates more than double operation emissions than the
capital cost for PV module is higher in Khulna, but lower resource cost is
hybrid option. Therefore, it is evident that the hybrid PV/Diesel/Battery
needed for the proposed HES as shown in Fig. 14. The contribution of
option has not only financial benefits but also environmentally
energy shows a similar trend, but different proportion as presented in
sustainable.
Fig. 15.

3.7. Sensitivity analysis

3.5. Techno-economic analysis of hybrid options for barishal

The study also examines the uncertainty associated with renewables

The summary of optimized value of different configurations in the
and load demand to ascertain the robustness of the analysis. In HOMER
Barishal region is represented in Table 9. PV/Diesel/Battery has the
software tool, the different uncertain variables can be used as the input
minimum COE 0.29 $/kWh and consists of 123 kW PV, 100 kW diesel
parameters for the feasibility assessment of the stand-alone system. In
generator, 641 kWh battery storage, and 50 kW bi-directional converter.
this work, the uncertainty of renewable sources is investigated in
However, COE for this region is slightly higher due to the lower exposure
accordance with the similar works reported in Refs. [56,70]. In this
of sun, thus requires larger battery storage which attributed to the larger
section, the uncertainty of load demands and the solar irradiation for the
unit energy costs. On the other hand, the PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery sys­
optimized PV/Diesel/Battery option are examined. Results from this
tem has a COE of 0.30 $/kWh and an NPC of $719,563. The PV/Battery
analysis reveal that the COEs comparable while changing the daily load
system has a maximum COE of 0.556$/kWh with an NPC of $1,335,478.
demand from 600 kWh to 700 kWh at the fixed solar irradiation, as
Results also identifies that the hybrid with PV system has lower COE
presented in Fig. 20. For example, the COEs are found to be in the ranges
than that of the without PV as well as the diesel only options. The PV/
of 0.265–0.269 $/kWh at the solar irradiation of 6 kWh/m2/day.
Diesel/Battery and PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery systems produce excess
However, the COE increases from 0.261 $/kWh to 0.281 $/kWh when
energy of 15,936 kWh and 16,152 kWh, respectively with a 70%
the solar irradiation drops from 6.5 kWh/m2/day to 4 kWh/m2/day at
renewable fraction, while a PV stand-alone system produces higher
the load demand of 600 kWh/day.

3.8. Grid integration

This study also examines the effects of hybrid energy systems con­
nected to the national grid from technical, financial, and environmental
perspectives. Rajshahi is considered for this analysis. In this strategy, the
grid electricity is used to satisfy the load demand when the renewables
are unable to meet the demand. Additional energy is sold back to the
national grid, and thus requires a small storage capacity and utilizes the
large amount of excess energy which is dumped in the hybrid energy
Fig. 10. The cost summary for stand-alone PV/Diesel/Battery option options. In this regard, a fixed unit energy purchase cost (COE 0.10
for Chattogram. $/kWh) was selected for the residential application [71], whereas a

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B.K. Das et al. Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673

Fig. 11. Monthly average energy share for meeting load requirements stand-alone PV/Diesel/Battery option for Chattogram.

Table 7 Table 8
Summary of optimized results for Dhaka. Summary of optimized results for Khulna.
System PV/ PV/Wind/ PV/ Wind/ Diesel System PV/ PV/Wind/ PV/ Wind/ Diesel
Diesel/ Diesel/ Battery Diesel/ only Diesel/ Diesel/ Battery Diesel/ only
Battery Battery Battery Battery Battery Battery

COE ($/kWh) 0.284 0.294 0.521 0.321 0.309 COE ($/kWh) 0.29 0.30 0.54 0.324 0.311
NPC ($) 741,104 765,919 1,355,031 836,135 803,423 NPC ($) 730,674 755,030 1,368,180 817,837 786,113
PV capacity 117 116 388 – – PV capacity 125 124 438 – –
(kW) (kW)
Wind capacity – 10 – 10 – Wind capacity – 10 – 10 –
(kW) (kW)
Diesel 100 100 – 150 150 Diesel 100 100 – 150 150
generator generator
(kW) (kW)
Battery 486 508 3174 48.4 – Battery 652 659 2993 48.4 –
capacity capacity
(kWh) (kWh)
Bi-directional 54 54 185 9 – Bi-directional 52 50 134 9 –
converter converter
(kW) (kW)
Excess energy 20,072 17,974 298,908 26.4 0 Excess energy 14,212 14,172 374,367 17 0
(kWh) (kWh)
Renewable 64 64 100 1 0 Renewable 68 68 100 1 0
fraction (%) fraction (%)

Fig. 12. The cost summary for stand-alone PV/Diesel/Battery option Fig. 14. The cost summary for stand-alone PV/Diesel/Battery option
for Dhaka. for Khulna.

Fig. 13. Monthly average energy share for meeting load requirements stand- Fig. 15. Monthly average energy share for meeting load requirements stand-
alone PV/Diesel/Battery option for Dhaka. alone PV/Diesel/Battery option for Khulna.

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B.K. Das et al. Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673

Table 9
Summary of optimized results for Barishal.
System PV/ PV/Wind/ PV/ Wind/ Diesel
Diesel/ Diesel/ Battery Diesel/ only
Battery Battery Battery

COE ($/kWh) 0.291 0.30 0.556 0.327 0.315

NPC ($) 696,934 719,563 1,335,478 786,582 757,086
PV capacity 123 124 518 – –
(kW)
Wind capacity – 10 – 10 – Fig. 18. CO2 emission and diesel fuel consumption for different regions.
(kW)
Diesel 100 100 – 150 150
generator
(kW)
Battery 641 647 2280 48.4 –
capacity
(kWh)
Bi-directional 50 52 135 9 –
converter
(kW)
Excess energy 15,936 16,152 525,655 28.8 0
(kWh)
Renewable 70 70 100 1 0
fraction (%)
Fig. 19. Excess Energy and Renewable energy fraction for different regions.

Table 11
Environmental emissions for PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery.
CO2 (kg/ CO SO2 NOx UHC PM
yr) (kg/ (kg/yr) (kg/yr) (kg/yr) (kg/yr)
yr)

Rajshahi 94,285 598 231 478 25.9 35.8

Chattogram 76,166 483 187 386 21 29
Dhaka 88,524 561 217 449 24.4 33.7
Khulna 77,431 491 190 393 21.3 29.4
Barishal 73,796 468 181 374 20.3 28.1

Fig. 16. The cost summary for stand-alone PV/Diesel/Battery option

for Barishal.
Table 12
Environmental emissions for Diesel only system.
CO2 (kg/ CO SO2 NOx UHC PM
yr) (kg/yr) (kg/yr) (kg/yr) (kg/yr) (kg/
yr)

Rajshahi 219,684 1087 537 921 52.0 67.4

Chattogram 223,534 1092 546 928 52.6 67.8
Dhaka 227,318 1096 555 935 53.1 68.3
Khulna 221,539 1089 541 924 52.3 67.6
Barishal 211,923 1077 518 906 51.0 66.5

Fig. 17. Monthly average energy share for meeting load requirements stand-
alone PV/Diesel/Battery option for Barishal.

Table 10
Environmental emissions for PV/Diesel/Battery.
CO2 (kg/ CO SO2 NOx UHC PM
yr) (kg/ (kg/yr) (kg/yr) (kg/yr) (kg/yr)
yr)

Rajshahi 94,929 602 232 481 26.1 36.1

Chattogram 70,505 447 173 357 19.4 26.8
Dhaka 89,709 569 220 455 24.7 34.1
Khulna 77,639 492 190 394 21.4 29.5
Fig. 20. Sensitivity of load demand and solar irradiation for PV/Diesel/Bat­
Barishal 74,918 475 183 380 20.6 28.5
tery system.

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B.K. Das et al. Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673

fixed sell-back price of 0.07$/kWh to the grid-connection was chosen.

3.8.1. Grid-connected vs stand-alone hybrid options

The results reported in Table 13 suggest that the grid-connected
system has considerably lower COE (0.072$/kWh) compared to the
hybrid energy system (0.28$/kWh). The HES requires higher resource
costs (fuel/resource cost, Fig. 8) and battery storage compared to the
grid-connected system. To exemplify this, the HES entails 2 × 50kW
diesel generators, and 387 kWh battery capacity, where, the grid con­
nected system, where net grid purchase is chosen as zero (i.e. equal Fig. 21. Monthly average energy share for grid-connected option for Rajshahi.
amount of energy purchase from grid and sell-back to the grid), has a
diesel generator capacity of 50 kW only to run for limited hours (31 h/ back option. At present, there is no government policy of sell-back op­
yr, fuel consumption 159 l/yr only), and requires no battery storage. tions for the small scale solar (<5 MW) and the HES. Therefore, the
Although grid connected hybrid system has 154 kW PV module and 111 study analyzed the potential benefits for the variation of the tariff for the
kW bi-directional converter, this system requires no battery storage and grid-connected HES. The data presented in Fig. 23 reveal that substantial
insignificant resource costs attributed to considerably lower COE (0.073 benefits can be achieved if the sell-back price of 0.12$/kWh is consid­
$/kWh) compared to stand-alone HES (0.28$/kWh). More importantly, ered. The COE is declined over 200% from the base line scenario (COE
the excess energy is significantly lower in the grid-connected system 0.0715$/kWh) when the sell-price is 0.12$/kWh. Further growth of the
(3,889 kWh/yr) compared to the stand-alone HES (21,284 kWh/yr). sell-price to 0.15$/kWh leads to 350% reduction of COE. However, no
This is due to fact that the huge amount of excess energy is sold back to appreciable changes in COE appeared when the tariff is less than the grid
the grid and only a few storage devices are required to meet the demand purchase price (0.10$/kWh). Therefore, any sell-back price more than
during the absence of solar, grid power supplies the necessary load de­ the grid purchase price could be financially attractive and promote the
mand. Ahmad et al. [19] reported that the grid integrated PV/Wind/­ grid-connected hybrid power plant.
Biomass system has the lower COE of 0.057$/kWh, whereas the
PV/Biomass/grid has a COE of 0.061$/kWh. Ogunjuyigbe et al. [72] 3.8.3. Effects of grid purchase and sell-back energy
also reported that the grid-connected HES is financially attractive. In this section, the effects of electricity purchase from grid facilities
From Fig. 21, it is observed that the summer season (May–Sep­ and the amount of electricity sell-back to the grid on the COE and
tember) requires larger grid electricity purchase due to higher demand. renewable penetration are examined. A net grid purchase of 0% means
Being a tropical country, Bangladesh enjoys almost similar solar expo­ the amount of electricity purchase from the grid and sell-back to the grid
sure to the year round. Although it is expected to generate more elec­ is equal. It is evident from Fig. 24 that the COE increases more with
tricity from solar PV in the summer season, the rainy days in this season increasing grid purchase than sell-back to the grid. The renewable
contributed to lower monthly average solar power generation than the penetration declines at the higher net grid purchase due to the higher
rest of the season. Around 65% of the energy demand is met by solar and contribution from the grid. Fig. 24 indicates that the increase in grid
34.9% is satisfy by the grid power, whereas less than 1% comes from the electricity to satisfy the load requirements leads to an increase in COE
diesel generator. Fig. 22 shows the time series data for different com­ and decline in renewable energy penetration. For example, a 50%
ponents to meet the load requirements. The operational emissions (CO2 growth of grid electricity purchase compared to sell back to the grid is
emissions) for grid connected system (62,024 kg/yr) is comparable with attributed to a 28% rise of COE and a 31% reduction of renewable
the stand-alone system (94,929 kg/yr). From the above results it is thus penetration from the base line scenario (0% net purchase). Therefore,
obvious that implementation of grid connected solar system would be expectedly, the CO2 emission is increased as the contribution primarily
financially and environmentally benefitted compared to the solely grid from the PV module is reduced.
connected system.
4. Challenges and opportunities
3.8.2. Effects of sell-back price
The benefits of grid-connected HES largely depend on the govern­ Along with the technological and institutional development to sup­
ment policy for introducing RE to the national grid and tariffs of the sell- port RE infrastructure in Bangladesh, it is essential to identify the major
barriers for project implementation [73]. High installation and main­
tenance costs of the HES hamper the recent progress of RET as they
Table 13
increased the COE. As a developing country, majority of the population
Comparative results of stand-alone and grid-connected hybrid options.
could not afford high COE compared to conventional grid purchases.
System Stand-alone Grid-connected Economic barriers, including improper financial mechanisms, strong
PV/Diesel/ PV/ PV/ PV competition with fossil fuels, limited investors and fewer government
Battery Battery Diesel subsidies strongly influenced the development of HES [74]. In addition,
COE ($/kWh) 0.28 0.52 0.073 0.072 less financial investment, and constraint in funding due to lower interest
NPC ($) 692,694 1,280,266 286,467 282,010
Initial capital ($) 250,532 1.04 M 251,833 238,844
Replacement cost ($) 114,931 122,823 10,768 11,894
O&M cost ($) 36,075 153,258 26,472 33,136
PV capacity (kW) 102 475 154 155
Diesel generator (kW) 100 – 50 –
Battery capacity (kWh) 381 2308 – –
Bi-directional converter 56 141 111 110
(kW)
Excess energy (kWh) 21,284 494,549 3889 4995
Renewable fraction (%) 61 100 64 65
CO2 emissions 94,929 – 62,024 61,670
Grid purchase – – 132,489 132,623
Grid sales 132,494 133,113
Fig. 22. Time series data for meeting load requirements grid-connected option
– –

for Rajshahi.

12
B.K. Das et al.
Fig. 23. Effects of sell-back price on the COE.
Fig. 24. Effects of net grid purchase on the COE and the renewable penetration.
rates and longer payback periods make renewable investment risky.
Although economic growth and rapid population growth necessities
large energy demand, replacing the existing systems with 100% re­
newables is both technically and economically impractical due to un­
certainties in future electricity prices [75]. Lack of infrastructural
facilities such as assessment of resources, transmission and distribution
systems, storage capacities and proper knowledge hamper the large
scale deployment of HESs [76]. Inappropriate and inefficient energy use,
along with system losses exhilarates additional barriers to the HES. On
the other hand, installation, and maintenance of HESs require technical
expertise and technological support. Therefore, unskilled professionals
and lack of support services are the major obstacles to the large scale
installation of RE systems [77]. There are still technological complex­
ities such as standards, measures, procedures, guidelines, and power
management systems for HESs. Meanwhile, research and development
activities to remove such technical barriers are essential and should be
taken into consideration while designing a HES [78]. The environmental
and economic benefits of HESs should be disseminated through pro­
motional activities such as proper advertising and publication to attracts
the users. The most important barrier for HESs is the policy implications,
which include ineffective government policy, impractical target, limited
fiscal incentives (export-import tax), mis adjustment between technical
and bureaucratic personnel [79].
Despite having diversified difficulties, the HESs offer numerous op­
portunities in the context of environmental, social, economic, and en­
ergy security issues. The HESs will mitigate GHG emissions and save the
environment from degradations. The rapid falling of PV and wind price
will accelerate the deployment of HES with great reduction in initial
investment. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) predicted
a decrease of 73% and 23% price for PV and wind, respectively by 2020.
Moreover, ongoing research and fast improvement of technologies
stimulate RE systems to compete with conventional fossil fuels. Appro­
priate selection of hybrid technologies considering geographic location
and environmental impact will diversify the current energy supply and
reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. Additionally, these systems will
influence employment opportunities, living standards, income genera­
tions, health conditions, poverty level, women empowerment and
13
Energy Strategy Reviews 37 (2021) 100673
community development [80]. Sustainable energy is one of the funda­
mental needs for human development and it can contribute to income
generation, increasing health and education quality, decreasing poverty
level. Bangladesh is blessed geographically for the diffusion of solar
energy. Despite having numerous benefits of RE resources, the majority
of the people are unaware of accepting the technology. The deficiency of
information shared among the stakeholders are required to implement
the renewably based hybridized micro-grid. In this regard, the govern­
ment of Bangladesh can implement such projects under a public-private
partnership (PPP) scheme where there will be a group of owners along
with government support who will invest in installing such projects.
Fig. 25 represents a complete model of stand-alone micro-grid
development in the remote area in Bangladesh. Various NGOs and
sponsors should come forward to finance these projects with soft loans.
Hybrid stand-alone options have a range of benefits, including cost-
benefits, reliability outcomes, and reducing the overall emissions by
replacing emissions-intensive units. Business and education time can be
increased with the addition of quality light. Users will get benefitted
with reliable electricity and pay to the group of owners who will invest
the micro-grid projects with the aid of government and private entities.
5. Conclusions
The present study investigates the potential applications of hybrid
energy at different sites in Bangladesh. The sizing optimization is carried
out to find cost-effective and environmentally promising options for
each region studied. The detailed economic, technical, and environ­
mental perspectives of grid-connected hybrid configurations are also
examined. The variation of key parameters on optimal solutions is re­
ported in this study. The key outcomes of this study are presented below:
• The COE of PV/Diesel/Battery option for Rajshahi region (0.28
$/kWh) is slightly lower but comparable with the Dhaka (0.284
$/kWh), Chattogram (0.284$/kWh), Khulna (0.29$/kWh), and
Barishal (0.291$/kWh). However, the resource costs, which involve
costs associate with fuel, are considerably higher in Rajshahi and
thus require continuous higher investments than the other locations.
• Renewable penetration is higher in Chattogram (72%), closely fol­
lowed by Barishal (70%), whereas Rajshahi has the lowest contri­
bution from the RE sources (61%) to satisfy the load requirements.
• The operational CO2 for the HES in Rajshahi is highest at 94,929 kg/
yr, whereas the lowest emission is found in Chattogram at 70,505 kg/
yr. A similar trend is also true for other emissions as well. Substantial
environmental benefits can be attained by integrating a hybridized
system into the grid.
• The analysis indicates that the grid-connected HES provides signifi­
cant cost benefits compared to the stand-alone system. Moreover,
HESs with equal grid purchase and sell-back offer a cost-effective
option. More importantly, the COE with the grid sell-back proposi­
tions is even lower than the grid purchase price. The outcomes also
Fig. 25. Stand-alone micro-grid development in the remote area in Bangladesh.
B.K. Das et al.
indicate that a 70% increase in grid sell-back price results in a 46%
drop in COE.
• The cost of hardware components can be brought down by allowing
tax-free imports, thus decreasing the COE. The government of
Bangladesh should provide unconditional for research and innova­
tion by creating opportunities in collaboration works and innovation
exchanges within communities. Although the hybrid micro-grid op­
tion is cost-effective, reliable, and sustainable solution, rural people
cannot afford due to higher capital investment. Therefore, more
flexible financial support from the government and NGOs can solve
the underlying complexity of the problem.
The investigation of this study demonstrates the worth of stand-alone
or grid-connected hybrid as well as the PV-based options by enumer­
ating the techno-economic and environmental effects of the proposed
system at the present circumstances. This work formulates and identifies
the optimal HES configuration for achieving cost-effective solution with
high reliability using RE resources, such as solar and wind energy op­
tions. The study also develops an implementation model for the pro­
posed HES with the associate challenges and opportunities. The
feasibility analysis presented in this research can be used as a guideline
on the design and implementation of the stand-alone application in the
remote areas where grid utility is not available or the hybrid grid-
connected-based power plants in Bangladesh. Future research is war­
ranted to analyse the effects of battery charging/discharging cycles on
the lifetime of the battery and corresponding the energy cost.
Author contribution statement
Barun K. Das contributed to the article in regard to model devel­
opment, data analysis, executing simulations, compiling results, and
manuscript writing. Majed A. Alotaibi supported by manuscript
reviewing, writing, and editing, Pronob Das assisted in designing
methodology, writing, and editing, M. S. Islam contributed in manu­
script reviewing, writing, and editing, Sajal K. Das supported by
manuscript reviewing, writing, and editing, and Md Alamgir Hossain
supported by reviewing, writing, and editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the supports from the RUET, Bangladesh.
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