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Optimal Cost Analysis of Wind-Solar Hybrid System
Powered AC and DC Irrigation Pumps using HOMER
Basanagouda F. Ronad, Member IEEE-PES
Research Student, Department of Electronics and Electrical
Jain University, Bangalore, India
basugouda.ronad@gmail.com
Abstract— This paper presents the optimal cost analysis of wind-
solar hybrid systems connected to DC and AC irrigation pumps.
HOMER software is used for optimizing the systems components
based on load profiles and wind-solar energy potentials at the
Bagalkot, India. AC load profile is considered constant for seven
hours/day and DC load profile is obtained by conducting
performance tests on 1 HP DC pump installed in Energy Park,
Basaveshwar Engineering College (Autonomous), Bagalkot,
India. Developed HOMER model include SPV panels and two
DC wind turbine generators for generation. Optimal
configurations of wind-solar capacities are listed by considering
Total Net Present Cost as objective function. Cost and electricity
generation are compared and analyzed. It is observed that,
annual electricity generated by both systems is nearly equal.
However, cost comparison of AC and DC loads indicate that, for
renewable energy powered small scale irrigation systems, AC
pumps leads to uneconomic results and excess generation. On
other hand, DC pumps prove to be economic and reliable.
Keywords- HOMER; Total Net Present Cost (TNPC); AC and
DC Irrigation pump; Solar Photovoltaic; Wind Turbine
Generators.
I. INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy powered irrigation pumps are gaining
importance as irrigation contributes to major load on the
conventional grid. DC pumps are directly fed from SPV/Wind
or by hybrid systems. On other hand AC pumps require
converter and storage facility. The economic analysis of the
renewable energy powered AC and DC pumps based on
available wind-solar potential helps to identify the better
option.
Optimization helps to utilize the renewable energy sources
economically and efficiently. In order to economically and
efficiently utilize the renewable sources, optimum sizing is
necessary. Designing a reliable standalone/hybrid system
would require component sizing with appropriate operation
strategy. Techno-economic analysis based on worst month
scenario leads to cheapest cost of energy produced by of
system while neglecting the excess capacity. Results of such
designs show as much as 50% excess energy is produced [1].
Since the excess energy is counted as part of the cost, it needs
to be addressed systematically. This is explored in HOMER
(Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) by
reducing excess generation while minimizing the cost of
energy (COE). The HOMER is a computer model developed
Authors would like to thank Vision Group on Science and Technology,
Dept of Information Technology, Biotechnology & Science and Technology,
Govt. of Karnataka, Bangalore for the financial assistance under K-FIST
Level-II Grants to Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering,
Basaveshwar Engineering College (Autonomous), Bagalkot, Karnataka, India.
978-1-4799-9982-8/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE
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Suresh H. Jangamshetti, Senior Member IEEE-PES
Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics
Basaveshwar Engineering College (A), Bagalkot, India.
jangam@rocketmail.com
by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
to assist in the design of micropower systems and to facilitate
the comparison of power generation technologies across wide
range of applications. HOMER models a power system’s
physical behavior and its life-cycle cost. It allows comparing
many different design options based on their technical and
economic merits. It assists in understanding and quantifying
the effects of uncertainty or changes in the inputs. In the
optimization process, HOMER simulates many different
system configurations, ranks the feasible ones according to
TNPC, and presents the feasible one with the lowest TNPC as
the optimal system configuration [2].
Nasif Mahmud discussed cost optimization analysis of a
hybrid energy generation system for a remote island St. Martin
of Bangladesh, where, it is impossible to provide grid
connection. An effort is made to design a hybrid electricity
generation system for a small group of people of the island.
The hybrid system is combined with solar PV, wind turbine
and diesel generator. HOMER is used to examine the most
cost effective configurations among a set of systems for
electricity requirement of 53 KWh/day primary load with 10
kW peak [3]. U. Sureshkumar, presented real time optimal
cost analysis of HRES based on the load profile and renewable
energy potential for a remote village in Tamil Nadu, India
which lack access to the utility grid. For annual consumption
of 1.989 KWh/d optimization of hybrid system is carried out.
Optimization is obtained by varying the sensitivity variables
i.e solar radiation and wind speed. Cash flow summary of the
HRES system is obtained for the optimal cost allocation of
each individual component [4]. In similar, many literatures
discussed the application of HOMER for large AC loads,
which consists of PV, Wind, Battery and Converters [3-7].
However, cost analysis of DC loads is not carried out. In
this regard, cost analysis of 1 HP AC and DC irrigation pump
loads are carried in HOMER and compared for adequacy.
II. RESOURCES FOR MODELING
The analysis is done for the site, Basaveshwar Engineering
College (Autonomous), Bagalkot, India (Latitude 16Û 59’,
Longitude 75Û, 59’). The solar radiation and wind speed data
are collected locally from automatic weather station. The
resource inputs given to the HOMER models are presented in
following section:
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A. Solar Energy Potential

Solar photovoltaic panels of various capacities from 0.5 kW
to 1.2 kW are employed for the electricity generation. The real
time solar radiation data of Bagalkot site is given as input
SPV. Output power from PV array in HOMER software is
assessed by (1).
§ GT ·
PPV YPV f PV ¨¨ ¸>1  D P TC  TC ,STC @ (1)
G ¸
© T ,STC ¹
Where, YPV is the rated capacity of the PV array, fPV is the PV Figure 2. Power Curve for 0.4 kW DC WTG
derating factor, GT is the solar radiation incident on the PV
array in the current time step, GT,STC is the incident radiation at
standard test conditions, ĮP is the temperature coefficient of
power, Tc is the PV cell temperature in the current time step
and TC,STC is the PV cell temperature under standard test
conditions. If the effect of temperature is not considered,
temperature coefficient of power is considered as zero.
Fig.l shows the monthly average daily solar radiation and
clearness index in the selected site. The scaled annual average
radiation is 5.07 kWh/m2/day. The plot indicated the sufficient
solar potential in the said location. Figure 3. Power Curve for 0.9 kW DC WTG

The scaled annual average wind speed is 4.74 m/s. Based

on hourly variations, the autocorrelation factor is measured as
0.85. The diurnal pattern strength is 0.25, which represents
strength of a wind speed. The monthly average wind speed
collected from automatic weather station, Energy Park,
Bagalkot, plotted in Fig.4 is used for analysis. Wind speeds
over a year are presented in a Weibull distribution form shown
in Fig.5. The site is considered as low wind regime.

Figure 1. Solar radiation at selected site

B. Wind Energy Potential

Wind turbine follows a typical power output characteristic
Figure 4. Monthly Average wind speed
depending on the manufacturer's specifications. Wind turbine
starts generating power at the cut-in speed and power output
increases linearly with the variation of wind speed from cut-in
to rated speed. Maximum output is obtained at rated wind
speed. Mathematically, power output from a wind turbine is
assessed by (2).
1
PW UAC P v 3
2 (2)

Where, PW is the power output, ȡ is the air density, A is the

swept area, CP is the power coefficient and v is the wind
speed.
Figure 5. Weibull probability distributions function of wind speed.
In the present study two wind turbine generators are
employed for generation. The power curves are the most
important property of the wind turbine, which describes the C. Electric Load: AC & DC Irrigation Pump Load Profiles
amount of power the turbine produces versus wind speed. The The HOMER optimizes the system components based on
Power curves of the 0.4 kW and 0.9 kW WTG systems are load profiles. In this regard load profiles are drawn separately
presented in Fig.2 and Fig.3 respectively. for 1 HP AC and DC irrigation pump. AC pump is operated

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with 0.6 kW power constantly throughout seven hours of day

from 9.00 AM to 4.00 PM. On other hand, DC load profile
cannot be drawn directly from loading conditions. In view of
this, performance of 1 HP DC water pump is studied by
experiments and power requirements for average water
discharge of one lakh liters per day are noted. The hourly
average demands for every month is entered to simulation
model from 8.00 AM to 6.00 PM. The tests are conducted for
minimum discharge head and hence profile can be considered
as worst case load profile. The scaled annual average load for
AC is 4.2 kWh/day and for DC is 3.62 kWh/day. The DC load
profile obtained is shown in Fig.6.
Figure 7. Hybrid power system model in HOMER for AC load

Simulation results present the cost analysis and indicate

feasibility of the system. The combination of sources which
supplies electric demand adequately and satisfy all the
constraints imposed, is considered as feasible. Further, TNPC
of the said combination is determined. HOMER simulates
Figure 6. Seasonal load profile for 1 HP DC Irrigation pump different system configurations, discards the infeasible options
and ranks the feasible combinations according to TNPC. The
TABLE I. SPECIFICATIONS OF HYBRID SYSTEM COMPONENTS combination of sources with least TNPC is considered as
PV array optimal combination. Simulations are carried based on
Life Time 20 Years variable sizes of the PV array, number of WTG units, capacity
Tracking System Without Tracking of batteries and size of converters. TNPC is calculated by (3).
Derating Factor 80%
WTG System -1
Cann,tot
C NPC
Technology SW Air X CRF (i, RPr oj ) (3)
Power Rating 0.4 kW DC
Hub Height 20 meters
Life Time 20 Years Where, Cann,tot is total annualized cost, CRF is capital recovery
WTG System -2 factor, i is interest rate and Rproj is project lifetime in years.
Technology SW Whisper 100-II
Power Rating 0.9 kW DC The objective function for the optimization of system
Hub Height 20 meters
components is defined by (4).
Life Time 20 Years
Battery and Converter
Vision Battery 6FM200D 12 V, 200 Ah MinTNPC  Min>CPV  CW  CC  CB @
Converter 1 kVA (4)
Load Details-DC
Load Type DC Irrigation Pump Where, CPV is the cost of SPV panels, CW is cost of WTG
Scaled Annual Average 3.62 kWh/day systems, CC is cost of converters and CB is the cost of battery
Peak kW 0.639 kW
banks.
Load Factor 0.236
Load Details-AC
Load Type AC Irrigation Pump Table-2 presents the optimal combinations of different
Scaled Annual Average 4.2 kWh/day sources and listed on economic priority. The first combination
Peak kW 0.600 kW is the optimal option with 0.9 kW SPV and 0.4 kW WTG with
Load Factor 0.292 two batteries of 12 V, 200 Ah in series and a converter.
III. HOMER SIMULATION MODELS Capital cost, TNPC, annual cost and cost of energy for all
combinations are listed. Table-3 presents the electricity
A. AC Irrigation Pump generated by individual sources, total primary load served,
unmet load and excess electricity generation. Tables-2 and 3
Hybrid Power System model in HOMER for AC irrigation
depicts that TNPC increases while reducing the capacity
pump is shown in Fig.7. Photovoltaic array, wind turbine
shortage. It indicates that, constraint of allowable maximum
generator, converter and battery are incorporated to feed the
annual capacity shortage should be carefully identified for the
demand.
load. Minor variations of capacity shortage pose the
significant cost deviations. Excess generation is observed to be
very high in most cases. It is due to presence of wind-solar
potential during the off-load conditions.

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TABLE II. OPTIMAL COMBINATIONS OF SOURCES AND COST DETAILS FOR B. DC Irrigation Pump
AC LOAD
Hybrid Power System model in HOMER for DC irrigation
Vision Total Total
Sl PV AIR W100 6FM Capital
Total
Ann. COE
pump is presented in Fig.10. Photovoltaic array and wind
NPC turbine generators are incorporated to feed the demand. The
200D Cost Cost
# kW kW kW 12 V $ $ $/yr $/kWh simulations results are presented in Table 4 and 5.
1 0.9 0.4 0 2 2,550 4,256 333 0.259
2 1 0.4 0 2 2,675 4,371 342 0.253
3 1.2 0.4 0 2 2,925 4,506 352 0.247
4 1.2 0.4 0.9 0 3,675 4,638 363 0.281
5 0.7 0.4 0.9 2 3,650 5,939 465 0.367
6 0.8 0.4 0.9 2 3,775 6,051 473 0.352
7 0.9 0.4 0.9 2 3,900 6,124 479 0.342
8 1 0.4 0.9 2 4,025 6,181 484 0.336
9 1.2 0.4 0.9 2 4,275 6,260 490 0.331

TABLE III. ELECTRICTY PRODUCTION DETAILS FOR AC LOAD

Tot. Pri. Unmet
PV Wind Excess
Sl PV AIR W100 Ele. Load Load
Prod’n Prod’n Ele.
Prod’n Served Frac. Figure 10. Hybrid power system model in HOMER for DC load
# kW kW kW kWh/yr kWh/yr kWh/yr kWh/yr % kWh/yr
1 0.9 0.4 0 1,375 155 1,530 1,285 0.16 37 TABLE IV. OPTIMAL COMBINATIONS OF SOURCES AND COST DETAILS FOR
2 1 0.4 0 1,528 155 1,682 1,352 0.12 116 DC LOAD
3 1.2 0.4 0 1,833 155 1,988 1,424 0.07 349
4 1.2 0.4 0.9 1,833 776 2,609 1,293 0.16 1,172 Total Total
Total
Sl PV AIR W100 Capital Ann. COE
5 0.7 0.4 0.9 1,069 776 1,845 1,265 0.17 372 NPC
Cost Cost
6 0.8 0.4 0.9 1,222 776 1,998 1,344 0.12 438
# kW kW kW $ $ $/yr $/kWh
7 0.9 0.4 0.9 1,375 776 2,151 1,401 0.09 530
1 0.9 0 0 1,250 1,501 117 0.108
8 1 0.4 0.9 1,528 776 2,303 1,440 0.06 645
2 0.8 0.4 0 1,675 2,109 165 0.152
9 1.2 0.4 0.9 1,833 776 2,609 1,478 0.04 918
3 0.9 0.4 0 1,800 2,248 176 0.156
4 0.7 0 0.9 2,550 3,363 263 0.239
Fig.8 shows the electricity production by SPV and WTG 5 0.8 0 0.9 2,675 3,502 274 0.239
systems. Most of the months possess sufficient sunlight and 6 0.9 0 0.9 2,800 3,640 285 0.242
SPV is dominating in generation. During June – September, 7 0.7 0.4 0.9 3,100 4,109 321 0.289
8 0.8 0.4 0.9 3,225 4,248 332 0.288
sunlight is less and WTG supports the generation. Increasing
9 0.9 0.4 0.9 3,350 4,387 343 0.289
the SPV size during these months to achieve reliability, will
affect the economic justification and hence WTG are TABLE V. ELECTRICTY PRODUCTION DETAILS FOR DC LOAD
incorporated. Fig.9 presents the cash flow summary of the
optimal system components selected by HOMER. Tot. Pri. Unmet
PV Wind Excess
Sl PV AIR W100 Ele. Load Load
Prod’n Prod’n Ele.
Prod’n Served Frac.
# kW kW kW kWh/yr kWh/yr kWh/yr kWh/yr % kWh/yr
1 0.9 0 0 1,375 0 1,375 1,087 0.18 288
2 0.8 0.4 0 1,222 155 1,377 1,083 0.18 294
3 0.9 0.4 0 1,375 155 1,530 1,126 0.15 404
4 0.7 0 0.9 1,069 621 1,690 1,100 0.17 590
5 0.8 0 0.9 1,222 621 1,843 1,146 0.13 697
6 0.9 0 0.9 1,375 621 1,996 1,178 0.11 818
7 0.7 0.4 0.9 1,069 776 1,845 1,112 0.16 733
8 0.8 0.4 0.9 1,222 776 1,998 1,155 0.13 842
Figure 8. Monthly average electricity production HOMER for AC load 9 0.9 0.4 0.9 1,375 776 2,151 1,186 0.1 965

Results reveal that, 0.9 kW SPV standalone system is

identified as optimal source for the DC pump with the
constraint of 20% allowable power shortage. However, the
shortage fraction is reduced with addition of 0.4 kW WTG
system. The monthly average electricity produced is shown in
Fig.11. During June-July generation is less, but within the
defined constraints.

Figure 9. Cash flow summary of Hybrid AC system

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V. CONCLUSION
Optimal cost analysis of wind-solar hybrid systems
connected to DC and AC irrigation pumps is presented in the
paper. HOMER software is used for optimizing the system
components. Simulations are carried based AC and DC load
Figure 11. Monthly average electricity production HOMER for AC load profiles and available renewable energy potentials. Cost and
electricity generations are compared for both cases. It is
IV. COMPARISION OF AC AND DC SYSTEM RESULTS concluded that, for 1 HP irrigation pump, for Bagalkot site,
Results of cost analysis for AC and DC loads are listed in SPV standalone system is the feasible and economic option.
Table-6. Comparison indicates that, for 1 HP irrigation pump
at the Bagalkot site, standalone SPV system is optimal
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