International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2013)
Sizing of Hybrid Energy System using HOMER
1 2
Niharika Varshney , M. P. Sharma , D. K. Khatod
1
Student, Alternate Hydro Energy System, IIT Roorkee
2
Associate Professor, 3Assistant Professor, Alternate Hydro Energy System, IIT Roorkee
Abstract A sustainable energy system may be defined as a
cost-effective, reliable, and environment friendly energy
system that effectively utilizes local resources and networks.
For providing a sustainable energy supply, renewable energy
sources appear to be the one of the most efficient and effective
solutions. This paper presents sizing of hybrid energy system
consisting of solar, wind, micro hydro, biomass, diesel and
battery using HOMER of an un electrified area and also
presents environmental aspects of different configuration.
Keywords HOMER, hybrid energy system, renewable
energy system
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, energy becomes the basic need of all human
beings and major energy demands are met by conventional
energy resources like coal, natural gas, crude oil, etc. which
are fast depleting, finite and are threatening the future
energy demands[1]. Further, the combustion of fuels
causing the emission of green house gases which enhances
environmental problems[2]. These problems can be
overcome by developing sustainable renewable energy
sources that may offer the most efficient and effective
solutions[3]. Hybrid energy systems integrating renewable
energy sources with fossil fuel system may provide source
of electricity that can be fed directly into the grid or the
batteries for energy storage for use in off grid mode[4]. In
India about 56% of rural households have not yet been
electrified even though many of these households are
willing to pay for electricity. Government of India launched
a programme of Rural Electrification for socio economic
development of rural areas. This paper deals with the sizing
and optimization of hybrid energy system for rural area of
Narendra Nagar block, district Tehri Garhwal of
Uttarakhand using HOMER. Hybrid energy system consists
of PV, micro hydro, biomass, diesel, and battery to fulfill
the electricity requirement of unelectrified rural area of
Narendra Nagar block.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Lot of work has been done on sizing of hybrid energy
system for remote areas but less work is available for cluster
of villages.
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3
Silva et al.[5] evaluated the use of a photovoltaic-fuel
cell-battery system to supply electric power in an isolated
community in the Amazon region using HOMER and
calculated systems initial capital cost, net present cost, and
cost of electricity. Islam et al.[6] presented sizing of hybrid
energy system for a small community of St. Martin island
using HOMER. They also performed sensitivity analysis to
see the impact of solar insolation, PV investment cost, wind
speed, and diesel fuel price on the optimum result. Guler et
al.[7] performed feasibility analysis of medium sized hotel
in Turkey for electricity consumption by hybrid energy
system using HOMER. Goodbody et al.[8] also preformed
feasibility analysis to investigate the available renewable
energy options in Ireland using HOMER software and
considered net present cost, the cost of energy, and the CO2
emissions of each potential energy combination in
determining the most suitable renewable and non-renewable
hybrid energy system. Fulzele[9] developed a methodology
for optimum planning of hybrid PV-Wind system with some
battery backup using HOMER to assess the technical and
economic viability of the integrated system. Himri et al.[10]
presented techno-economic assessment for off-grid hybrid
generation systems of a site in south western Algeria using
HOMER to evaluate the energy production, life-cycle costs,
and greenhouse gas emissions. Ngan and Tan[11] analyzed
the potential implementation of hybrid photovoltaic
(PV)/wind turbine/diesel system in southern city of
Malaysia, Johor Bahru using HOMER.
III. PROPOSED HYBRID ENERGY SYSTEM
Narendra Nagar block has 209 villages. Villagers have
small land holdings with terrace cultivation and the
economy relies mainly on agriculture and animal
husbandry. The block consists of 15 unelectrified villages.
The details of map and villages is given in [12]. There are
775 households and 22 hamlets with a population of 4755.
The area comprises of major hilly and fertile area under
forest with scattered households and has been considered by
Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency
(UREDA) to be remote and not economically viable for
electrification by grid extension.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2013)
During survey, it was found that six villages have already On the basis of load demand assessment minimum and
been electrified by grid extension while 9 villages are maximum load for summer and winter is calculated and is
considered for the present study for electrification by shown in Table 1.3. Load profile is shown in Fig. 1.1 and
proposed decentralized hybrid energy system consisting of 1.2 respectively for winter days and summer days.
micro hydro, biomass, solar photovoltaic, diesel generator, Table 1.3
and battery. Table 1.1 gives the details of cluster of nine Maximum and minimum load data for summer and winter season
villages[12].
Summer Winter
Table 1.1
List of unelectrified villages of Narendra Nagar block Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Load 10. 182.58 0.0 117.97
S.N. Name of Latitude N Population No. of (kWh/day)
village & Households Time 0:0-4:0 & 18:0-21:0 14:0-15:0 7:0-8:0
Longitude 23:0-24:0
E Total no. 5 3 1 1
1. Laga 3007, 700 60 of hours
Mehra 7823
2. Saud 3011, 345 65 B. System selection
7824 Narendra Nagar block, occupies a unique position as far
3. Salem 3021, 111 17 as natural resources are concerned just has adequate
khet 7821
sunshine, low to moderate wind speeds, biomass potential
4. Talai 3012, 200 30
available in abundance and compared to the animal
lambadi 7823
5. Bandhan 3011, 70 12 population of this area is relatively much greater than in
7819 other parts of block.
6. Pungarh 3011, 62 11
7818
7. Bhangla 3011, 300 55
7827
8. Kakhoor 3010, 340 62
7827
9. Banskata 3011, 1095 190
7829
Total 3223 502

A. Load assessment
The data for load demand has been taken from[12]. The Fig.
energy demand is divided into 4 major categories (i) 1.1 winter season load profile
household load (ii) commercial load (iii) industrial load (iv)
community load. Household load consists of lighting, TV,
fan, and radio/ music system. Commercial load includes
load of lighting for small shops and flour mill while
industrial load includes load of saw mill or paddy huller.
Community load consists of primary health centre, street
lights, and school lighting. Table 1.2 gives description of
the different categories of load for each time segment.
According to [4], time duration of summer is considered of
8 months from March to October and winter 4 months from
November to February.
Fig.1.2 summer season load profile

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2013)
Table 1.2
Load demand assessment

Time Type of load

segment
Household load Commercial Industrial Community load Total electrical
load load load (kWh)
Lighting T.V. Fan Radio/ Lights Floor Saw mill/ Primary Street School Summer/ Winter
load (90W) (55W) music for mill paddy health lights lights
(11W) summer/ system shops (5kW) huller centre (20 W) (20 W)
winter (25W) (20W) (5kW) (20 W)
0:0-1:0 - - - - - - - - 10.0 - 10.0/10.0
1:0-2:0- - - - - - - - - 10.0 - 10.0/10.0
2:0-3:0 - - - - - - - - 10.0 - 10.0/10.0
3:0-4:0 - - - - - - - - 10.0 - 10.0/10.0
4:0-5:0 30.12 - - - - - - - 10.0 - 40.12/40.12
5:0-6:0 30.12 - - - - - - - 10.0 - 40.12/40.12
6:0-7:0 60.24 - - - - - - - - - 60.24/60.24
7:0-8:0 60.24 45.18 - 12.55 - - - - - - 117.97/117.97
8:0-9:0 - 45.18 - 12.55 - - - 0.20 - 3.60 61.53/61.53
9:0- - - - - - 5.0 5.0 0.20 - 3.60 13.80/13.80
10:0
10:0- - - - - - 5.0 5.0 0.20 - 3.60 13.80/13.80
11:0
11:0- - - 65.26/0.0 - - 5.0 5.0 0.20 - 3.60 79.06/13.80
12:0
12:0- - 45.18 65.26/0.0 - - 5.0 5.0 0.20 - 3.60 124.24/58.98
13:0
13:0- - 45.18 65.26/0.0 - - - - - - - 110.44/45.18
14:0
14:0- - - 65.26/0.0 - - - - - - - 65.26/0.0
15:0
15:0- - - 65.26/0.0 12.55 - - - - - 77.81/12.55
16:0-
16:0- - - 65.26/0.0 12.55 - - - - - - 77.81/12.55
17:0
17:0- 60.24 45.18 65.26/0.0 - 1.70 - - 0.20 - - 172.58/107.32
18:0
18:0- 60.24 45.18 65.26/0.0 - 1.70 - - 0.20 10.0 - 182.58/117.32
19:0
19:0- 60.24 45.18 65.26/0.0 - 1.70 - - 0.20 10.0 - 182.58/117.32
20:0
20:0- 60.24 45.18 65.26/0.0 - 1.70 - - 0.20 10.0 - 182.58/117.32
21:0
21:0- 30.12 45.18 65.26/0.0 - - - - - 10.0 - 150.56/85.30
22:0
22:0- - - 65.26/0.0 - - - - - 10.0 - 75.26/10.0
23:0
23:0- - - - - - - - - 10.0 - 10.0/10.0
24:0
Total 451.80 406.62 783.12/0.0 50.20 6.80 20.0 20.0 1.80 120.0 18.0 1878.34/1095.22
Daily
load
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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2013)
C. Sizing and optimization Table 1.6
Biomass resource input
Sizing and optimization of different component has been
done using HOMER to minimize the cost and enhance S.N. Village Total Total Total biogas
reliability of system. It consists of solar PV system, micro name no. of dung/day generated
hydro, biomass, diesel generator, and battery. cattle (kg) (m3/day)
1. Laga 546 3060 77.11
i. Solar PV System
Mehra
The capital and replacement cost for 10 kW system is 2. Saud 591 3310 83.41
taken as $7000 and $7000 respectively[9] . Solar PV panels
of different capacities are considered, e.g. 50, 100, 150, 175 3. Salem 153 850 21.42
kW for optimization. The lifetime considered is 20 khet
years[9]. The monthly daily average solar radiations are 4. Talai 273 1530 38.55
directly taken by HOMER using latitude and longitude of Lambadi
the location. Table 1.4 gives the solar resource input. 5. Bandhan 109 610 15.37
Table 1.4 6. Pungarh 99 550 13.86
Solar resource input
7. Bhangla 501 2810 70.81
Month Clearness Daily solar radiation
index (kWh/ /day) 8. Kakhoor 564 3160 79.63
January 0.646 3.808 9. Banskata 1728 9680 243.93
February 0.644 4.592
March 0.651 5.692 Total 4564 25560 644.11
April 0.661 6.756
May 0.648 7.195 iii. Micro hydro
June 0.594 6.790
July 0.457 5.136 The total micro hydro resource potential is estimated as
August 0.463 4.865 15 kW[13] as shown in Table 1.6.
September 0.582 5.365 Table 1.6
October 0.695 5.273 Micro hydro resource input
November 0.681 4.196
December 0.636 3.497 S.N. Village Head Discharge Power
name (m) (m3/sec) (kW)
ii. Biomass Energy 1. Talai 2 0.05 7
Biomass potential assessment is based on the number of Lambadi (7.0)
buffaloes, horses, goats, cow/ox, etc found. The biomass 2. Pungarh 7.00 0.06 4.20
availability is about 644.112m3/day, out of which
510.87m3/day is used for cooking. Biomass resource input is 3. Banskata 5.00 0.06 3.0
shown in Table 1.5. The balance 133.23m3/day is available Total power potential 14.2 (say
for generation of electricity using biomass gasification[13]. 15)

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iv. Diesel Engine-Generator Set IV. RESULTS
A 40 kW AC generator initially costing $20000 with i. Optimization results
replacement cost of $16000 is considered. The operation
The optimization results of hybrid renewable energy
and maintenance is considered as $ 0.6 per hour. Its life is
system using HOMER are given in Table 1.8. It is seen that
estimated as 15000 operating hours [9]. For optimization
SPV, MH, biomass with battery, inverter, and diesel
AC generator of different capacities are considered, e.g. 50
generator have the lowest total NPC of $1,453,997 and cost
kW, 150 kW and 200 kW.
of energy $0.19/kWh. For this combination the electricity
v. Battery and converter produced by different components from I configuration
The Surrelte 4KS25P battery is rated at 4V and has a given in Table 1.9 while the monthly average electricity
capacity 1900Ah [9]. In proposed system, 10, 20, 30 and 50 production and cash flow summary are shown in Fig 1.6
batteries are considered for optimization. and 1.7 respectively.
Table 1.9
D. Algorithm Electricity production by different components
i. Select components of hybrid energy system, i.e. solar
Production kWh/yr %
PV panel, micro hydro, two generators one uses fuel as
diesel and another uses biomass and batteries. PV array 317,278 19
Micro hydro 86,210 13
ii. Now add capital cost, replacement cost, and o/m cost
Biomass 3,300 20
of different components and also give some range for Diesel Generator 313,736 48
capacity of different components like number of
Total 720,524 100
batteries that can be used in this hybrid energy system
for optimization. Costs of various components are
given in Table 1.7.
Table 1.7
Costs of various components

Components Cost (Rs./ k W)

MHG 131867
BGG 40178
PVG 200,000
DEG 25,000
BATTERY 7000
iii. Now the system is designed. Obtained model is shown in Fig. 1.6 Monthly average electricity production of configuration I
Fig. 1.3.

Fig. 1.7 Cash flow energy of configuration I

Fig. 1.3 Final model of Hybrid Energy System

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Table 1.8
Optimization results
Configurati PV Micro Biogas Diesel Battery Converter Capital Total Net COE COE
on (kW) hydro generator (kW) generator storage (kW) cost ($) Present Cost ($/kWh) (Rs./kWh)
(kW) (kW) ($)

I. 50 14.2 80 150 75 140 406835 1453997 0.192 9.6

II. - 14.2 80 150 50 140 203335 1519194 0.201 10.05

III. - 14.2 80 150 - - 176735 1683453 0.223 11.15

IV 50 - 80 150 100 140 372885 1689630 0.223 11.15

V. - - 80 150 50 140 165885 1696877 0.224 11.20

VI. 50 14.2 80 150 - 140 396335 113914 0.245 12.25

ii. Environmental aspects 6. In II and III configuration as intermittent source i.e. PV

Emissions resulting from configuration I are shown in is not available, so there is no need of batteries so the III
table 1.10 which shows that configuration I has the highest configuration is better. But in III case excess electricity is
renewable fraction so operating time of diesel generator set 10.2% which is more than I configuration (1.77%) and II
is reduced and hence emissions are also reduced. configuration (0.39%).
Table 1.10
7. In IV configuration PV/ biogas/ diesel/ battery, it does
Emission from I configuration not have micro hydro. But due to PV and large no. of
batteries initial cost too much high. Accordingly, NPC and
Pollutants Emission (kg/ yr) COE is high.
Carbon dioxide 139,136
8. III and IV configurations have same the cost of energy
Carbon mono oxide 346
but III configuration have lower capital cost as it doesnt
Particulate matter 26.1
Unburned hydrocarbon 38.3 have PV, battery and converter which are costly.
Sulphur dioxide 279
Nitrogen oxides 3,087 VI. CONCLUSIONS
The work had been done on Hybrid energy system at
V. DISCUSSION Narendra Nagar Block using PV/ micro hydro/ biogas/
1. The optimization and simulation by HOMER shows that diesel/ battery components. In that work[12], it was found
on the basis of lowest COE and NPC, I configuration, i.e.. that LINDO software was used for sizing purpose. The
PV/ micro hydro/ Biogas/ diesel/ battery is the best option annual total optimum cost & COE were calculated as
but meet high initial capital cost. 2395115.327 and 6.23 Rs/kWh respectively. Table 1.11 (a)
2. Payback period of configuration I is less so it has lowest and (b) shows validation results.
NPC. It uses PV and battery so. operating hours of backup Table 1.11
generator reduces, thereby resulting in lower emission and Validation of present results with literature results (a) NPC and COE
lower operating cost.
Present result Literature result
3. I configuration has the highest renewable penetration.
(PV/ micro (PV/ micro hydro/
4. II configuration consists of micro hydro/ biogas/ diesel/ hydro/ biogas/ biogas/ biomass/
battery but no SPV and small number of batteries. This diesel/ battery) diesel/ battery)
leads to the reduction of initial cost as compared to I
Annual total 5647100 2395115.327
configuration. But meet higher COE and NPC is than I optimum cost (Rs.)
configuration.
COE (Rs./kWh) 9.6 6.23
5. In III configuration micro hydro/ biogas/ diesel, it does
not include PV and battery, so if the load is only ac there is In present work HOMER software is used and annual
no need of converter and so initial cost is again reduced but total optimum cost & COE is calculated as 5647100 & 9.6
operating cost increases as the operating time of diesel Rs/ kWh respectively as shown in table.
generator is increased so overall NPC and COE increases in
this case.

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Diesel 150 kW 46 kW [9 ] Fulzele, J.B. and D. Subroto, Optimum Planning of Hybrid
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