Optimal design and economic assessment of battery based stand-alone wind/PV generating system using ABC

In this paper a novel intelligent method is applied to the problem of optimal sizing and economic assessment in a hybrid power system such that the demand of residential area is met. The purpose of this design is minimization of total cost of the stand-alone hybrid system over its 20 years of operation. This system includes photovoltaic, wind turbine and an lead-acid battery bank. Using optimization method of Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) the optimal capacity of these sources is determined, the Net Present Cost (NPC) is minimized and the efficiency of this system in different operation situations with real information of the solar radiation and the wind speed in one of the north western remote areas of Iran is studied. Covering the load demand under varying weather conditions is the main constraint in this study. With intelligent designing of these sources not only load demand is supplied but also the results of the used algorithms are compared together. The results show the preference of ABC algorithm and indicate that the proposed hybrid system would be a feasible solution for distributed generation of electric power for stand-alone applications at remote locations.