Optimizing present power distribution system and novel renewable energy sources for Tamil Nadu in India using HOMER

With the growing demand for energy, and subsequently growing greenhouse gas emissions, it is vital to explore alternative cleaner sources of energy and incorporate them into the existing power system before the global resources are depleted and damaged beyond recovery. This paper targets India, an emerging giant, and will explore the integration of renewable resource generation into the power grid, utilizing the smart grid technology. The integration will be investigated through simulation using the HOMER to obtain the optimum system, based on cost of energy and emissions. The simulated scenario is based in Tamil Nadu, a southern state of India, and the proposed model includes looking at the electricity consumption and generation, also scaled down to 0.001%, and exploring ways to improve the electricity grid’s efficiency. This is accomplished by the integration of renewable energy resources, and the demand and supply side management of the utilities. The simulation result shows that the optimal system can include the renewable generations to serve the balance load from existing thermal generation.