Design of a hybrid solar-wind power plant using optimization

Although solar and wind energy are two of the most viable renewable energy sources, little research has been done on operating both energy sources alongside one another in order to take advantage of their complementary characters. In this paper, we develop an optimal design for a hybrid solar-wind energy plant, where the variables that are optimized over include the number of photovoltaic modules, the wind turbine height, the number of wind turbines, and the turbine rotor diameter, and the goal is to minimize costs. Simulation studies and sensitivity analysis reveal that the hybrid plant is able to exploit the complementary nature of the two energy sources, and deliver energy reliably throughout the year.