Design of hybrid PV/diesel generator systems at minimum cost: Case study for Kuching, Malaysia

This paper presents optimization of hybrid photovoltaic (PV)/diesel systems for Kuching, Malaysia. The PV array, storage battery and diesel generator capacities are the variables to be optimized considering very low loss of load probability. In the proposed optimization method, a hybrid PV/diesel system model is developed in Matlab and the long term solar energy records for the targeted sites are used. The objective of the optimization problem is to minimize the system cost and to determine the optimal sizing of PV array, storage battery and diesel generator in terms of its unit cost. The proposed PV/diesel system is validated by comparing it with a benchmark system developed in [10]. The comparison is based on the lifetime cost of the system which leads to the kWh unit price. Such work is helpful for designing reliable hybrid PV/diesel system for Kuching, Malaysia at a minimum cost.