Economic viability of grid tied solar PV energy system in Muzaffargarh, Pakistan

摘要

Since last decade, Pakistan is facing worst electricity shortfall which in turn has forced utility operators to endure regular scheduled disruption of electric supply. In this regard, the uses of Diesel Generators (DGs) have been a preferred alternative due to its instant availability even at much higher Cost of Energy (COE). DG based backup power generation has adverse environmental impacts due to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Renewable energy sources have capability, and are being increasingly implemented, to cope with energy crisis. This paper presents a case study for cost effective solution using available solar resources, to cope with the energy crisis for a grid connected site of Government College of Technology Muzaffargarh (GCTM), Pakistan. The proposed system was simulated and validated in Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables) HOMER software package, developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Technoeconomic, sensitivity, and CO2 emission analysis were performed to find the appropriate decision variables (such as size and number of PV panels, batteries, converter, and DG) for hybrid system architecture. The results obtained from best PV generation system are compared with existing power generation system. The results show that COE for the proposed system has been significantly reduced from 0.299 /kWhto0.159/kWh.