PV hydro hybrid systems

The energy systems based on renewable resources face several acceptance difficulties mainly due to high initial costs and to low final incomes. A way to improve the effectiveness of these systems is the use of more than a source of energy, mainly when the employed sources present some type of complementarity. An interesting combination is obtained with the use of hydro and solar energy resources, that it allows to take advantage of the complementarity among two sources and it allows to investigate the storage of energy in water reservoirs and in batteries. The configurations with a bus in cc would assist demands of until 1 kW to 2 kW, while configurations involving a bus in ca evidently would reach larger powers. This article discusses PV hydro hybrid systems, characterizing some configurations, discussing operation strategies, commenting on the effects of the complementarity in time among the energy sources and evaluating that complementarity in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil, besides presenting preliminary estimates of costs.