Abstract:
Electricity is a cornerstone and prerequisite for global socioeconomic progress. Renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, and hydropower are increasingly being integrated into electric power systems. In most circumstances, power extension is either impossible or impractical due to geographic constraints, excessive financial costs, or a lack of supply to meet demand. Mini-grid decentralization and integration provide an alternate approach to supplement electrification in rural areas. Due to the promotion of renewable energy technology and the rapid increase in the cost of petroleum products, hybrid renewable energy systems are becoming more common as self-sustaining power systems for providing electricity in remote places. This technical study of the Baziro Solar PV-Micro hydro power hybrid system is based on the reality of a remote village called Baziro in Rwanda's southern province of Nyamagabe District, which has no access to electricity but possesses potential hydro and solar energy resources. Three key tasks were completed during the study: load demand evaluation, hybrid design and simulation, and outcomes analysis. At the Baziro site, 237 households had no access to the electricity and 135.95kWh corresponds to the load demand surveyed. After the calculation and simulation by using appropriated formulas the optimum net head was found to be 36m and designed flow discharge of 0.054 m3/s. From the available solar data Baziro site locates between 1,700-1,800kWh/m2 per year. 20kW can be installed whereby Micro Hydro power represents 15kW and 5kW of the Solar PV system with battery bank. MATLAB software 2017 version was used to simulate the load control for Micro hydropower and PVSYST version 7.3 was used to optimize, load sizing and solar PV components. For the smooth operation of the hybrid system a flow chart algorithm was developed.
