Meeting the energy needs of a location in Balikesir Manyas district with a grid-independent hybrid system: Energy and economic analysis

In today's context, the demand for electrical energy is steadily increasing in proportion to the growing population. The majority of this demand is still met by fossil fuels. The depletion of fossil energy sources, the adverse environmental and health effects due to high emissions, negative impacts on natural events, and occasional procurement challenges have significantly heightened the desire to shift towards renewable energy sources. Particularly, since the last quarter of the 20th century, this shift has gained considerable momentum, driven by the continuously increasing demand for electrical energy. Renewable energy sources offer advantages such as lower emissions, non-depletable nature, and reduced dependency on imports. The combined use of renewable energy sources in systems can enhance efficiency. For instance, while solar panels generate electricity during specific hours, combining solar and wind energy allows the system to produce electricity throughout the day. Hybrid energy systems, referred to as systems created by the combined use of energy sources, have emerged as a solution to meet the increasing importance of renewable energy sources and to supply remote areas away from grid-connected systems. However, the utilization of renewable energy sources in systems faces challenges, including high initial investment costs and the inability to consistently meet the same energy production needs. To address this, a cost-effective approach involves meeting the baseline energy needs throughout the year using renewable energy sources, while peak loads are supplied by both renewable and fossil fuels. This ensures reasonable costs and continuous production. In this study, the HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) program was employed to model and simulate five hybrid systems. Following the simulation and optimization processes, the results were evaluated to determine the most suitable combination. The study focused on the Manyas region in Balıkesir, Turkey. In the study, different hybrid energy systems were established to meet the electrical and thermal load needs of a community of 240 people from 60 households, who will live in quadruplet buildings located in Çavuşköy (40.063583, 27.908583), Balıkesir province, in the Marmara region, independently of the grid. Technical and economic analyzes of the installed systems were carried out. The systems to be modeled in the HOMER program are designed to meet the average 480 kWh/day electricity and 170.95 kWh/day thermal load needs and to ensure that the unit value of the energy produced by the energy systems to be modeled is close to the current value Sensitivity analyzes were conducted by varying various parameters (generator operating load, wind turbine tower height, etc.) to determine the most optimum system. Finally, it has been observed that the unit cost of energy that can be obtained independently from the grid varies depending on the parameters when modeled separately from the systems. Then, its adaptability to real life was discussed and it was seen that both electricity and thermal energy needs could be met by paying $380 per household. This study serves as a valuable example for the establishment of energy systems in the field of renewable energy, indicating a significant potential for our country in this regard. It is considered encouraging for other researchers to conduct studies in this field.