DESIGN OF A HYBRID RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM FOR A REMOTE AREA AND NET ZERO EMISSION USING BUILDING ENERGY USE ANALYSIS

Abstract

One of the significant challenges facing the world in this century is the difficulty in providing reliable and cost-effective electricity to every household. While grid extension is still the preferred mode of rural electrification, it may not be financially viable or practically feasible to extend the central electricity grid to geographically remote and sparsely populated rural areas. In these remote areas, the energy demand is currently met through traditional means such as diesel generators (DG)/ Kerosene burners and these are expensive to run and emit harmful pollutants, thereby damaging the fragile and sensitive environmental and ecological balance of these places. While renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower offer clean and sustainable options, their intermittent and variable outputs pose challenges. These limitations can be mitigated by integrating existing diesel generators with smart deployment of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). This seminar work aims to achieve 'Net Zero Carbon Emission' for a remote location with a small population. The process involved two main parts: designing the Hybrid Energy System and analyzing Building Energy use. The Hybrid Energy System was divided into solar and wind modules, based on load forecasts and renewable resource estimations. The System Advisor Model (SAM) from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) was used to apply solar and wind technologies, guiding design considerations, equipment selection, and system optimization. Another NREL tool, REopt, provided system resilience by calculating the necessary Battery Storage. The chosen equipment, all made in India, is readily available in local markets. Building Energy use analysis aimed to achieve the ‘Net Zero Emissions’ target for the community. Tools like SketchUp with OpenStudio Plugin, OpenStudio, and EnergyPlus were employed for geometric representation and energy use simulation of buildings. SAM’s solar water heater module was used to simulate the heating load fulfillment for the building.