Studies on battery storage requirement of PV fed wind-driven induction generators

Abstract Hybrid stand-alone renewable energy systems based on wind–solar resources are considered to be economically better and reliable than stand-alone systems with a single source. An isolated hybrid wind–solar system has been considered in this work, where the storage (battery bank) is necessary to supply the required reactive power for a wind-driven induction generator (IG) during the absence of power from a photovoltaic (PV) array. In such a scheme, to ensure zero Loss of Power Supply Probability (LPSP) and to improve battery bank life, a sizing procedure has been proposed with the incorporation of uncertainties in wind-speed and solar-irradiation level at the site of erection of the plant. Based on the proposed procedure, the size of hybrid power system components and storage capacity are determined. Storage capacity has been calculated for two different requirements. The first requirement of storage capacity is common to any hybrid scheme, which is; to supply both real and reactive power in the absence of wind and solar sources. The second requirement is to supply reactive power alone for the IG during the absence of photovoltaic power, which is unique to the hybrid scheme considered in this work. Storage capacity calculations for different conditions using the proposed approach, satisfies the constraints of maintaining zero LPSP and also improved cycle life of the battery bank.