Economic Dispatch of Off-Grid Photovoltaic
Generation System With Hybrid Energy Storage
Lv Ran
State Grid Shanghai Economic Research State Grid Shanghai Economic Research
Institute
Shanghai, China
lvran.deyouxiang@163.com
Abstract—An off-grid photovoltaic(PV) generation system with
hybrid energy storage is proposed, and the mathematical
models of the key components are built. By which energy
supply and demand performance of the system are analyzed,
and a coordinated control strategy of energy management is
proposed, which is based on the constraints of equipment
parameters, self-wastage and the impacts of the capacity in the
system. Using Matlab software, a simulation platform for the
off-grid PV microgrid with hybrid energy storage is
constructed. Taking a microgrid for case study, Simulation
results verify the effectiveness of the dynamic economic
dispatch.
Keywords- photovoltaic generation, off-grid, hybrid energy
storage, energy management strategy, particle swarm
optimization
I. INTRODUCTION
The development of renewable energy power generation
system is of great significance for solving the power supply
problem of remote areas that main power grids cannot reach,
such as the borders, islands, and ocean islands [1-2]. Due to
the widely distributed, easy to use and non-polluting
advantages, photovoltaic generation has gained increasing
attention recently and its development potential is huge [3].
However, due to the characteristics of intermittency,
fluctuation and volatility, the off-grid photovoltaic power
generation system is relatively weak in the ability to
withstand disturbances, and the operation risk is relatively
high. The energy storage system can restrain the
instantaneous power fluctuation of the micro-grid and
improve the power quality by shifting loads, so it can play an
extremely important role in maintaining the stable operation
of the whole system [4-5].
At present, there are a variety of research on micro-grid
energy storage. Conventional stand-alone photovoltaic
power generation system uses a single lead-acid battery as
storage means [6]. Though the storage battery has high
charge and discharge efficiency and fast power response time,
it is not suitable for long-term storage due to its low energy
density. In addition, it takes a lot more space for large-
capacity storage battery, thus has higher economic costs.
Consequently, we can convert the power generated from
stand-alone photovoltaic power generation system into
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Lv Zhengyu Cao Zhen
State Grid Shanghai Economic Research
Institute Institute
Shanghai, China Shanghai, China
18901910010@163.com cz5124@163.com
hydrogen for storage via electrolysis of water, and then the
hydrogen is consumed for electricity through the fuel cell
power generation [7-8].
Hydrogen, as one of the clean energy, possesses the
characteristics of high energy density, easy to long-term
storage and no leakage possibility. However, the production
of hydrogen via electrolysis of water and fuel cell is low in
conversion efficiency, high in unit energy costs and slow in
power response time.
In this paper, the combined storage method of hydrogen
via electrolysis of water and storage battery is adopted. On
the one hand, we use the small-capacity storage battery; on
the other hand, we use large-capacity but low-cost hydrogen
tank, which can make the system operate in continuously
stable and autonomous mode. In addition, the system is more
efficient, low-cost and no pollution.
By analyzing the energy supply and demand
characteristics of the system, an energy management
coordination control strategy which considers the constraints
of system equipment parameters, self-loss and capacity limits
is proposed. On the premise of meeting load demand and
power quality, the power output of PV system, the energy
storage system and the load are reasonably scheduled to
ensure the economical, safe and stable operation of the off-
grid photovoltaic generation system with hybrid energy
storage.
II. SYSTEM STUCTURE AND COMPOENT MODEL
Off-grid photovoltaic generation system with hybrid
energy storage is composed of photovoltaic power supply,
storage battery pack and hydrogen storage system. The
system structure and its energy flow are shown in Fig. 1. The
photovoltaic array, served as the power generation system,
supplies power directly to the loads and charge the hybrid
hydrogen / storage energy storage system. The storage
battery pack and the hydrogen storage system, served serve
as the storage power supply, ensures the continuous stability
of the power supply system. Of which, the storage battery
pack is used as short-term energy storage due to its fast
power response and small capacity, and hydrogen storage
system is used as long-term energy storage due to its large
capacity and high investment costs.
 DC hydrogen hydrogen
DC accumulator compress storage Air
Bus DC or tank

converter Condition air

2 compressor

DC
MPPT DC accumula Condition fuel cell
tor 1
converter DC
photovoltaic Bus DC
power DC
generation
system converter
inverter DC
AC
AC Bus

Load
Condition 1: Lack of light, and battery charged state between maximum load capacity and the booming
power range
Condition 2: Lack of light energy or light energy radiation,and the battery charged state is lower than the
most booming power
Figure 1. The structure of the off-grid PV generation system with hybrid energy storage.

In this paper, PV cells are basic unit of converting solar
energy into electricity. PV array is packaged by a number of
PV cells connected in series and parallel. The static
parameters of photovoltaic cell model have to be within a
scope which is provided by the photovoltaic cell
manufacturers. Taking into account the sunshine intensity,
environmental changes and other factors, the model is
selected as follows [9-10]. The lead-acid battery is used as
the storage battery pack. The equivalent circuit can be
expressed as a controlled voltage source connected in series
with a constant resistance [11-12]. The hydrogen storage
system consists of the water electrolysis hydrogen
production generator, the hydrogen storage tank and the fuel
cell. The hydrogen is stored in a high-pressure metal
hydrogen storage tank through a compressor [13-15].
III. ENERGY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION CONTROL
amount of photovoltaic power delivered by the monitoring
layer and the load demand, and is responsible for adjusting
the process components to improve the overall efficiency of
the system and optimize the performance.
Considering the constraints of the device itself and the
complexity of the environment, the proposed energy
management control strategy not only needs to meet the
daily requirements of the user load and maintain the
operational scale of every device, but also optimizes the use
of the energy resources and coordinates every component of
photovoltaic generation system with hybrid energy storage.
Therefore, the energy supply and demand balance is
achieved.
In this paper, the difference between the power generated
by the photovoltaic power generation Ppv, the load demand
Pload and the required power of auxiliary devices Pae is
defined as the net Power (Pnet), that is
STRATEGY
Independent photovoltaic generation system with hybrid
energy storage utilizes multi-level control scheme. The
control system of such scheme adopts practical and efficient
two-layer structures: monitoring layer and device layer. The
main function of the monitoring layer is to monitor and
control the power flow from the photovoltaic power
generation system to the energy storage system and the user
load. In addition, the operational curve of the electrolyzer
and the fuel cell system can be obtained by the monitored
data. The device layer is composed of the local control unit
of each component in the system. Each layer in the device
layer is connected with the monitoring layer network. The
local control unit performs the optimal operation of the
respective unit through the available information such as the
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Pnet Ppv   Pload  Pae  (1)
Due to the intermittency of photovoltaic generation and
dynamic load demand. Pnet varies constantly, it can be
positive, zero or negative. When Pnet = 0, the power
generated by the photovoltaic system is just enough for the
demands of the load and auxiliary devices, with no additional
power output and no electricity deficit. The start-up and shut-
down of the storage battery, the electrolyzer and fuel cell
depends on the calculated value of Pnet in each sampling
interval. When the power generated by photovoltaic is in
excess, that is Pnet > 0, the storage battery is charged and the
electrolyzer starts up. When the power generated by
photovoltaic is in deficit, that is Pnet < 0, the storage battery
is discharged and the fuel cell stack is activated to consume
the previously stored hydrogen. It is then converted to
electrical energy. The electrical power can be supplemented
either by storage batteries for short-term and by fuel cells for
long-term. The fuel cell will only start if there is sufficient
hydrogen supply in the storage tank.
Combined with the battery’s state of charge, electrolyzer
device parameters, as well as capacity limit of the hydrogen
storage tank, the specific control logic is as follows:
When Pnet 0 , ] b 0, ] ele 0, ] fc 0, ] mh 0
When Pnet ! 0 ,
If SOC d SOCmax , ] b 1;
If SOC t SOCmax , ] b 0;
° °®
­ ­ If 0  P  P rated
The control strategy proposed in this paper is based on
assumption that the generation capacity of PV array and the
load demand are known, which means that this control
strategy adopts forecast scenarios. The uncertainty of a small
independent microgrid with certain loads is very strong, and
there are certain forecast errors due to the possible variations
in the prediction. However, the use of demand prediction is
one of the main advantages of adopting the model-based
method and the overall performance will be increased.
IV. PROPOSED APPROACH FOR OPTIMUM DA
SCHEDULING
A. Types of Graphics
net ele  In this paper, we use the conventional day-ahead dispatch
model. The objective function is to minimize the daily
° °̄o ] ele 0, ] fc 0, ] comp 0 operational expenses of the independent micro-grid F(t)
° (taking into account the investment depreciation cost, O&M

°° ­° If Pnet t Pele
rated
 (2) cost) under the assumption that the generation cost of
® ® independent microgrids is only related to the active power.
° °̄o ] ele 1, ] fc 0, ] comp 1
° min F (t ) CDP (t )  COM (t ) (5)
° ­° If  Pnet ! 0 & LOH t LOH max  r (1  r ) ni
° ®o ] ¦ [ 8760k
n
Caz ,i
0, ] fc 0, ] comp 0 CDP (t ) ˜ ˜ Pi (t )] (6)
°̄ °̄ ele
i 1 i (1  r ) ni  1
When Pnet  0 ,
¦K
n
COM (t ) ˜ Pi (t ) (7)
If SOC t SOCmin i 1
OM ,i

­ ­° If  Pnet where CDP(t), COM(t) are respectively the investment

 0 & LOH t LOH min 
°® depreciation cost and operation and maintenance cost of each
° ¯°o ] b -1, ] ele 0, ] fc 1, ] comp 0 component at time t; Pi(t) is the active power output of the i-
® (3) th component at time 5; n is the number of components. Caz,i
°°­ If  Pnet  0 & LOH  LOH min  is the installation cost per unit of capacity of the i-th
° ®o ] -1, ] ele 0, ] fc 0, ] comp 0 component; ki is the capacity factor of the i-th component. ki
¯ °̄ b
is the annual power generation of the i-th component; r is the
If SOC d SOCmin annual interest rate; ni is the investment payback period of
­ ­° If  Pnet  0 & LOH t LOH min  the i-th component; KOM,i is the O&M cost factor per unit of
°® electricity of the i-th component.
° ¯°o ] b 1, ] ele 0, ] fc 1, ] comp 0
® (4) B. Constraint Conditions
°°­ If  Pnet  0 & LOH  LOH min  1) Power balance constraints
°®
¯ °̄o ] b 0, ] ele 0, ] fc 0, ] comp 0 System operation must meet the power balance equation,
namely:
where P is rated power of electrolytic cell, LOH is
rated
ele
Ppv  Pbat  Pele  Pfc  Pload  Pae 0 (8)
hydrogen storage level, ] ele , ] fc and ] comp is the run mode
2) SOC and LOH constraints of hybrid storage system
of electrolytic cell/fuel cell and compressor respectively, The state of charge SOC of storage battery and hydrogen
1/ 0 means (start/close). ] b is the run mode of level LOH of hydrogen storage tank need to meet the
accumulatorˈ 1/ 0 / 1 means (charge/close/discharge). constraints:
Due to the limitations of the theoretical control, there are SOCmin d SOC d SOCmax (9)
two extreme cases in the above control strategy. In the LOH min d LOH d LOH max (10)
charging process, when SOC ≥ SOCmax and Pnet > 0 & LOH ≥
LOHmax, the whole system does not work; in the discharging C. Solution Algorithm
process, when SOC ≤ SOCmin and Pnet < 0 & LOH < LOHmin, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) [16] is an
the whole system also does not work. Therefore, considering optimization tool based on iteration. The flow chart is shown
the real cases, adequate energy storage capacity can be in Fig.2. This algorithm has been widely used in engineering
designed in accordance with the user’s annual load demand practice due to its efficiency, simple operation and fast
and the richness of photovoltaic resources distribution to convergence.
avoid the occurrences of forced PV curtailment and load Note that˖
shedding.

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 1
­vi , j (t  1) wvi . j (t )+c1r1 ( pi , j  xi , j (t ))  Light

° 0.9 Load 180

® c2 r2 ( pg , j  xi , j (t )) (11)

Load/kW
0.8 160
°
¯ xi , j (t  1) xi , j (t )  vi , j (t  1), j 1, 2..., d
0.7 140

0.6 120

0.5
Start 100

0.4 80

0.3 60
input parameter
0.2 40

0.1 20
Set the population size, random set the initial
0 0
position and velocity of each particle, set the 0 5 10 15 20 24
Time (h)
number of iterations K
Figure 3. Irradiation and load curves on the typical day.
Calculate particle fitness
value F i The irradiation resources and load distribution are
selected from the data of a typical day, as shown in Fig.3.
calculate the particle's individual extremum The ambient temperature is set as 15°C.
Pbest and global extremum Gbest The design result of off-grid photovoltaic generation with
hybrid energy storage is shown in Table I. The objective is to
Using (11) to update each particle's speed minimize the system investment cost under the constraint
and position that the system can operate independently.
TABLE I. DESIGN RESULTS OF THE PV GENERATION SYSTEM WITH
Update the status HYBRID ENERGY STORAGE
System
Capacity Lifetime(year) Price($)
Components
Calculate the current
PV module 121 piece 30 925
variation of time
accumulator 89.2kW 4 120
electrolytic 15.64kW 10 1000
N compressor 2.2kW 10 2500
varistion hydrogen
1784.2kWh 25 30
˛ storage tank
fuel cell 2.42kW 6 2500
Y power
N 2.88kW 10 1000
converter
Variation
Randomly select the initial SOC of the storage battery as
0.5, the initial LOH of the hydrogen storage tank is 0.5, and
the curves of the battery SOC and the LOH of the hydrogen
Reach K? storage tank under the energy management strategy are
shown in Fig.4.
SOC
90 LOH
Finish
Percentage/%

80
Figure 2. Flow chart of the PV generation system’s economic dispatch in
PSO. 70

60
V. MODELING AND SIMULATION ANALYSIS
50
In this paper, the modeling of the storage battery, the
electrolyzer, the compressor, the hydrogen tank and the fuel 40
cell has been built in the environment of Matlab/Simulink. 0 5 10
Time (h)
15 20 25
According to the system structure shown in Fig.1, a
simulation platform of off-grid photovoltaic power Figure 4. The battery SOC and hydrogen tank LOH variation curves.
generation with hybrid energy storage is built and the above
energy management strategy is adopted to realize the energy Randomly select the initial SOC of the storage battery as
balance between supply and demand. 0.8, the initial LOH of the hydrogen storage tank is 0.5, and
the simulation results are shown in Fig.5.

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 SOC the basis of the mathematical models of each components.
90 LOH By analyzing the energy supply and demand characteristics
of the system, a coordinated control strategy of energy
Percentage/%

80 management is proposed. The day-ahead economic dispatch

70
method is applied to the photovoltaic power generation
system to ensure the economic, safe and stable operation of
60 the system.
Based on the research done in this paper, the next stage
50
will focus on considering the impacts of electricity price
40 (unified price and real-time price) on the operation of off-
0 5 10 15
Time (h)
20 25 grid photovoltaic generation system with hybrid energy
storage. By utilizing a flexible pricing mechanism, the
Figure 5. The battery SOC and hydrogen tank LOH variation curves. energy transfer effect of the hybrid storage system will be
further developed and economic benefits of the system will
Under typical rainy weather, the load distribution is
be improved. Also, it is conducive to the peak shaving and
shown in Fig. 3. Due to the lack of light, the PV array does
valley shifting of the micro-grids.
not work and only the energy storage system will supply
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