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The developing environmental consequences of excessive dependence on fossil fuels have pushed many countries to invest in clean and renewable energy sources. Mexico is a country that, due to its geographic and climatic diversity, can take advantage of this potential in renewable energy generation and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels while developing strategies to improve its energy system. This study investigated the feasibility of the autonomous use of two hybrid renewable energy systems and a photovoltaic system to power homes in a remote location. With the help of HOMER Pro Version 3.14.5 software, a model was made to evaluate the operation of three systems for one year, and the demand was predicted according to a given scenario. In addition, the optimal configuration of the components of each system was determined. The results showed that the simultaneous use of solar systems with a converter and a backup system consisting of a diesel generator and batteries would be the most viable and reliable option for generating renewable energy at the selected location, offering electricity with a renewable fraction of more than 80%.

Fereydounshahr experiences growing electricity shortfalls and an overreliance on polluting diesel generators. This analysis models renewable hybrid systems to electrify a local dairy operation using HOMER Pro 3.11 software. Despite higher upfront costs, adding just 5% solar photovoltaics maintained low net present costs while increasing clean energy penetration versus diesel generators alone. Furthermore, a combined diesel-solar-wind system reduced carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by over 1%. Although diesel generators had the shortest payback period at 48 years, the capital recovery factor for a diesel–solar combination reached 62 years. Thus, tailored hybrid renewable systems could provide an affordable, low-emissions electricity solution for the Fereydounshahr livestock facility. With suitable wind and solar resources, the right policy incentives could also unlock substantial local renewable capacity to meet rising demand and mitigate dependence on imported, climate-harming fossil fuels.

Iran is one of the most energy-consuming countries, especially in the construction sector, and more than 40% of its energy consumption is in the construction sector. Therefore, considering the very high potential of Iran in the field of solar energy, the need to pay attention to providing part of the energy required by buildings by solar energy seems necessary. The study of the effect of climate on the performance of a BIPV has not been done in Iran so far. Also, the use of ranking methods using the weighting of parameters affecting the performance of BIPV has not been done so far. The purpose of this study is to investigate the power supply of BIPV connected to the grid in the eight climates of Iran. Technical–economic–environmental energy analyses were performed by HOMER 2.81 software. In order to study different types of BIPV, four angles of 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° were considered for the installation of solar cells. The effective output parameters of HOMER software were weighted by the Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) method based on the opinion of experts, and it was observed that payback time (year) has the highest weight among the studied criteria. Then, different cities were ranked using the evaluation based on distance from the average solution (EDAS) method. The results showed that Jask is the most suitable and Ramsar is the most unsuitable city. Also, the results of the EDAS method were confirmed by Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS), Weighted Aggregates Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS), and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods.

The development of hybrid renewable energy systems (HRESs) can be the most feasible solution for a stable, environment-friendly, and cost-effective power generation, especially in rural and island territories. In this studied HRES, solar and wind energy are used as the major resources. Moreover, the electrolyzed hydrogen is utilized to store energy for the operation of a fuel cell. In case of insufficiency, battery and fuel cell are storage systems that supply energy, while a diesel generator adds a backup system to meet the load demand under bad weather conditions. An isolated HRES energy management system (EMS) based on a Deep Q Network (DQN) is introduced to ensure the reliable and efficient operation of the system. A DQN can deal with the problem of continuous state spaces and manage the dynamic behavior of hybrid systems without exact mathematical models. Following the power consumption data from Basco island of the Philippines, HOMER software is used to calculate the capacity of each component in the proposed power plant. In MATLAB/Simulink, the plant and its DQN-based EMS are simulated. Under different load profile scenarios, the proposed method is compared to the convectional dispatch (CD) control for a validation. Based on the outstanding performances with fewer fuel consumption, DQN is a very powerful and potential method for energy management.

This paper analyzes the intelligent use of time-varying electrical load via developing efficient energy utilization patterns using demand-side management (DSM) strategies. This approach helps distribution utilities decrease maximum demand and electrical energy billing costs. A case study of DSM implementation of electric energy utility for an educational building Alagappa Chettiar Government College of Engineering and Technology (ACGCET) campus was simulated. The new optimum energy load model was established for peak and off-peak periods from the system’s existing load profile using peak clipping and load shifting DSM techniques. The result reflects a significant reduction in maximum demand from 189 kW to 170 kW and a reduction in annual electricity billing cost from $11,340 to $10,200 (approximately 10%) in the upgraded system. This work highlights the importance of time of day (TOD) tariff structure consumers that aid reduction in their distribution system’s maximum demand and demand charges.

In recent years, due to the rise in petroleum prices and greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy has been recommended as a power source for different types of facilities. For the period 2010 to 2020 the European Commission has established three key objectives related to climatic change and energy sustainability, such as reductions of CO2 emissions, increases in the use of renewable energy, and improvements in energy efficiency. A key industry is olive oil production in olive mills, where there is a great opportunity to reduce electricity consumption, increase additional profits related to the reduction of technologies that are harmful to the environment, and to cut back maintenance costs. For this reason, a feasibility study of grid-connected photovoltaics (PV) systems has been carried out for different types of olive mills in Andalusia (southern Spain). This region is highly energy dependent, but has an abundance of “green” resources to be exploited. The results of this study contemplate a reduction in spending on electrical power of between 2% and 37%, and an increase in the use of renewable energy of between 2% and 26%. These results are according to the self-consumption or net metering policy and the production capacity of olive oil.

Banana stem is being considered as the second largest waste biomass in Malaysia. Therefore, the environmental challenge of managing this huge amount of biomass as well as converting the feedstock into value-added products has spurred the demand for diversified applications to be implemented as a realistic approach. In this study, banana stem waste was experimented for bioethanol generation via hydrolysis and fermentation methods with the presence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) subsequently. Along with the experimental analysis, a realistic pilot scale application of electricity generation from the bioethanol has been designed by HOMER software to demonstrate techno-economic and environmental impact. During sulfuric acid and enzymatic hydrolysis, the highest glucose yield was 5.614 and 40.61 g/L, respectively. During fermentation, the maximum and minimum glucose yield was 62.23 g/L at 12 h and 0.69 g/L at 72 h, respectively. Subsequently, 99.8% pure bioethanol was recovered by a distillation process. Plant modeling simulated operating costs 65,980 US$/y, net production cost 869347 US$ and electricity cost 0.392 US$/kWh. The CO2 emission from bioethanol was 97,161 kg/y and SO2 emission was 513 kg/y which is much lower than diesel emission. The overall bioethanol production from banana stem and application of electricity generation presented the approach economically favorable and environmentally benign.

Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the most critical worldwide concerns, and multiple efforts are being proposed to reduce these emissions. Shipping represents around 2% of global CO 2 emissions. Since ship power systems have a high dependence on fossil fuels, hybrid systems using diesel generators and batteries are becoming an interesting solution to reduce CO 2 emissions. In this article, we analyze the potential implementation of Li-ion batteries in a platform supply vessel system through simulations using HOMER software (Hybrid Optimization Model for Multiple Energy Resources). We evaluate the impact of battery characteristics such as round trip efficiency, rated power, and energy capacity. We also evaluate the potential CO 2 emissions reduction that could be achieved with two of the most common types of Li-ion batteries (lithium titanate, lithium iron phosphate). Furthermore, we consider that the Li-ion batteries are installed in a 20 ft container. Results indicate that the lithium iron phosphate battery has a better performance, even though the difference between both technologies is lower than 1% of total emissions. We also analyze the potential emissions reduction for different parts of a mission to an offshore platform for different configurations of the ship power system. The most significant potential CO 2 emissions reduction among the analyzed cases is 8.7% of the total emissions, and it is achieved by the configuration including the main and auxiliary diesel engines as well as batteries. Finally, we present managerial implications of these results for both companies operating ships and ship building companies.

Traditional electrification methods, including grid extension and stand-alone diesel generators, have shown limitations to sustainability in the face of rural electrification challenges in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where electrification rates remain the lowest in the world. This study aims at performing a techno-economic analysis and optimization of a pumped-hydro energy storage based 100%-renewable off-grid hybrid energy system for the electrification of Djoundé, which is a small village in northern Cameroon. Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) software was used as an analysis tool, and the resulting optimal system architecture included an 81.8 kW PV array and a 15 kW biogas generator, with a cost of energy (COE) and total net present cost (NPC) of €0.256/kWh and €370,426, respectively. The system showed promise given the upcoming decrease in installation cost of photovoltaic systems. It will be viable in parts of SSA region but, significant investment subsidies will be needed elsewhere. The originality of this study can be emphasized in three points: (1) the modelling with the recently introduced pumped-hydro component of HOMER; (2) broadening sensitivity analysis applications to address practical issues related to hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES); and, (3) consideration of the agricultural sector and seasonal variation in the assessment of the electricity demand in an area of SSA.