Optimal hybrid wind-solar system for matching renewable power generation with demand

This paper presents a method to combine wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) powers in an optimal ratio to match the power demand at a particular site. The idea of advantageously combining the complementary power production characteristics of both renewable energy (RE) resources has clear benefits for renewable power plants. The intermittent nature of such power poses challenges for its integration into electricity networks with conventional generators. One solution is the use of energy storage technologies. Today there are several storage technologies available in the market, though all of them are still expensive for RE applications. The proposed strategy aims to match the required power demand with an added advantage of smoothing out those variations in the individual renewable powers without using the energy storage. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is depicted from the simulation results validated with real-world wind farm and solar PV data.