Optimal Sizing an SPV/Diesel/Battery Hybrid System for a Remote Railway Station in India

The grouping of the diesel generators with a battery storage and Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) at remote-area-railway station can overcome the inconvenience due to unavailability of power at such places to a great extent. This paper presents the development of a methodology for calculation of the sizing and optimization of a stand-alone SPV/diesel/battery hybrid system proposed for a small railway station. This approach uses three types of improved versions of particle swarm optimization algorithm to minimize the system cost including cost of available devices, and to determine the optimal sizing of SPV array, storage battery and diesel generator in terms of its size and cost. The hybrid system is analysed after the calculation of hourly data of solar radiation, by collection of sunshine hour and ambient temperature to the site of Khutwasa railway station near Seoni Malwa, Central India. Such work is helpful for designing reliable hybrid SPV/diesel system for any small railway station at a minimum cost, as indicated by the results.