Power access is at the forefront of governments’ preoccupations, particularly in nations in which electricity is essential for certain basic activities such as lighting, refrigeration and running of household appliances (Kanase-Patil et al. The optimal configurations that are obtained and presented in the present paper can be utilized as guideline for designing electrification systems (with a minimized cost) for the considered communities and other villages with similar characteristics (population and climatic conditions). Moreover, for the case of Campo serio, the resulting CO 2 emission of the obtained optimal system is determined to be 6.1% of that of a diesel-only unit, while the latter ratio is determined to be 2.7% for El potrero and 9.9% for that of Silicucho. Furthermore, employing the optimal configurations a renewable fraction (with respect to the total generation) of 94% is obtained for Campo serio and Silicucho, while the achieved renewable fraction for El potrero is 97%. Considering the latter scenario, the obtained optimal configuration leads to an NPC of USD 227,335 (COE: 0.478 USD/kWh) for Campo serio, USD 183,851 (COE: 0.460 USD/kWh) for El potrero, and USD 146,583 (COE: 0.504 USD/kWh) for Silicucho. The obtained results have revealed that, for all of the investigated communities, the hybrid solar–wind–diesel system is the most economically viable scenario. The obtained configurations are then compared considering other state-of-the-art economic indices, the generation fractions, and the resulting CO 2 emissions. While taking into account the meteorological data and load characteristics of the communities along with the diesel fuel’s price and the cost of components, HOMER software is utilized to determine the optimal sizing of the system considering different scenarios. Seven different configurations including single component systems (solar, wind, and diesel) and hybrid ones are considered. Three small communities without access to the grid (Campo serio, El potrero, and Silicucho), which are located in different climatic zones of Peru, have been accordingly selected as case studies.

Motivated by the lack of a comprehensive investigation dedicated to the techno-economic analysis of hybrid systems (PV–wind–diesel) for off-grid electrification in Peru, the present work is focused on determining the optimal configuration of these systems for remote Peruvian villages. Hybrid energy production from available renewable resources (e.g., wind and solar) and diesel engines is considered as an economically viable and environmentally friendly alternative for electrification in these areas. The majority of rural communities in developing countries (such as Peru) are not connected to the electrical grid.

Homer energy software review