Evaluation of Solar Hybrid Power Systems and its Efficacy in the UAE Market

摘要

Due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, the supplying of the electricity demand using hybrid (solar and diesel) systems has attracted great interest in UAE [1]. In this paper, comparisons of electricity generation with three configurations has been studied, starting from the base scenario of ⅰ) multiple stand-alone hybrid systems which is upgraded to ⅱ) AC-coupled mini-grid and ⅲ) DC-coupled mini-grid. The available energy supply, storage and transmission units as well as internal electrical demand of RAKRIC's open air R&D laboratory, Solab, have constituted the basis of the calculations. The cost estimates for the major components forming mini-grids have been found out to be comparable for AC-coupled and DC-coupled networks. Although the results provided in this paper do not apply universally since feasibility of electricity transmission and storage is notably affected by the positions of supply and load centers along with the generation and consumption time profiles. Solar hybrid power system can be the next option for the UAE fast growing market.