Optimal Design of Hybrid Microgrid for Off Grid Villages

Abstract

The Microgrid is a small scale transmission and distribution of power. Microgrid is mostly implemented in the rural villages and remote places which are not accessed by the normal conventional grid. The generation capacity of the micro grids will be less compared to the conventional grids as the demand is also significantly less. The renewable energy source acts as the major generation source for the microgrid when compared to the non-renewable sources. Some of the renewable sources which are used for generation in micro grids are wind, solar, small hydro, biomass etc. Since the renewable energy sources are not instantaneous for the microgrid to supply the load more efficiently and continuously the hybrid sources are required. In hybrid sources two different types of sources are considered in which one will be the conventional source and another will be the non-conventional source. The present work describes the design of a hybrid microgrid system for a remote off grid village in Myanmar. The hybrid microgrid consists of locally available primary energy source (photovoltaic) and diesel generator as a backup source. The main objective of the project is to design a system based on the locally available renewable energy source to electrify the village. To design the system, the energy requirement of the village, the current energy consumption and future demand is estimated through door to door survey. Based on the survey data the system is designed and installed.