Received: 24 March 2021 Revised: 21 June 2021 Accepted: 21 July 2021 IET Renewable Power Generation

DOI: 10.1049/rpg2.12267

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

Design and optimization of off-grid hybrid renewable power plant

with storage system for rural area in Rwanda

Lidetu Abu Bedadi1 Mulugeta Gebrehiwot GebreMichael1,2

1
African Center of Excellence in Energy for
Sustainable Development, University of Rwanda,
Kigali, Rwanda
2
Department of Electrical Power Engineering,
Defence University, Bishoftu, Ethiopia
Correspondence
Mulugeta Gebrehiwot GebreMichael, DU, College of
Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering,
P.O. Box: 1041, Bishoftu, Ethiopia.
Email: mulu4geta@gmail.com
Abstract
In this paper, a system comprising a solar photovoltaic (PV)/micro-hydropower/battery
bank/converter has been designed, modelled, simulated, and optimized for the rural area
of Wimana village, Rwanda. The total load has been fairly estimated for the residential
electric utility needs. To satisfy the load demand, solar photovoltaic (4 kW) and micro-
hydro (15 kW) power capacity were considered as the main sources of energy to supply
electricity. Either in peak load times or during low generation of primary sources, storage
battery banks can also be discharged. The simulation and optimization were done based
on the load demand, climatic data, the economics of integrated system components, and
other parameters in which the total net present cost has to be minimized to select an eco-
nomically feasible and technically capable hybrid power system. Based on the load pro-
file of the data collected for the village, the daily energy consumption was found to be
180.99 kWh/day with a peak load demand of 18.56 kW. The net present cost and the
cost of energy for the optimized power system amount to $78,763.26 and $0.0757/kWh
respectively. HOMER Pro simulating software tool was used to design optimal off-grid
and energy management systems.

KEYWORDS
hybrid, micro-hydropower, solar PV, optimization, cost analysis, HOMER Pro

1 INTRODUCTION
Energy is among the principal elements that are needed for the
development of the socio-economic pace of a country. It is the
main way to achieve goals such as the health of people with
a high standard of living, a maintainable economic status, and
a hygienic atmosphere [1]. Among different types of energies,
electrical energy is one of the most vital and backbone for the
growth and prosperity of a country and human well-being that
is generated from both renewable and non-renewable energy
resources [2, 3].
The power grid faces major transmission and distribution
challenges to satisfy demand with unforeseen regular and sea-
sonal fluctuations [4]. The various fossil fuels, non-renewable
energy, resources like petroleum products, coal, natural gas, and
nuclear energy are likely to be finished at some time as a result of
limitless utilization [5, 6]. Recently, renewable energy is playing a
vital role in minimizing the gap between the increased demand
for electricity and produced power [7, 8]. The use of renew-
able sources aims to minimize the rate of utilization of fossil
fuels and hence global warming [9, 10]. Environmental pollu-
tion and climate change due to the greenhouse emissions have
become a serious issue for the global community [11]. Due to its
availability, greenness, less pollution and environmental friendli-
ness nature, photovoltaic (PV) technology is the most promising
among all renewable energies [12–14]. However, fluctuations in
solar insolation levels are the major limitations of these renew-
able sources.
Micro-hydro plants are suitable renewable energy sources
[15] that provide a perceptible solution to electricity particu-
larly for the areas that are not connected to the grid [16]. The
construction of a micro-hydro power has a minimal impact on
the environment mainly related to the effects of fish diversity
reduction due to changes in flow rates. Such impacts can be

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2 BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL

reduced by using modern technologies. In this design, a fish- TABLE 1 Connected loads and their power ratings
friendly hydro turbine technology called Archimedean screw Unit power
turbine is proposed as suggested in [17]. Comparatively to indi- S/N Load connected rating (W)
vidual PV/micro-hydro systems, the hybrid PV/micro-hydro
1. Lamps 11
integrated system provides high steady power generation [18].
2. Cell phone 5
The location of Rwanda is in the Savanna climate that is
approximately two degrees below the equator in East Africa 3. Radio 10
and its topographical location endows it with abundant sunshine 4. TV 120
and adequate global solar energy on a horizontal surface rang- 5. DVD player 30
ing between 4.8 kWh/m2 per day minimum and 5.5 kWh/m2 6. Refrigerator 500
per day maximum. The average annual daily mean global solar
7. Computer 200
radiation is about 5.2 kWh/m2 per day and peak sun hours are
8. Photocopy machine 900
nearly 5 h per day, which makes solar energy become an optional
energy source [19, 20]. 9. Printer 300
As of December 2019, the off-grid access rate for households 10. Water pump 500
in Rwanda is 14.3% and the population which is connected to 11. Iron 1000
the grid accounts for around 51% of the whole population [21]. 12. Three-phase motor 3000
The remaining population in the rural areas of Rwanda does
13. One-phase motor 1000
not have access to electricity. In addition to this, these areas are
14. Ceiling fan 100
sparsely populated as compared to urban areas. This shows that
meeting the electricity demand in the remotely located areas is a 15. Hair-cut machine 15
big challenge in technical and economic terms [22].
Therefore, one way of overcoming this challenge over con-
ventional generations is the appropriate selection of renewable
energy sources that can generate electricity sustainably. Even [25]. This is an increment from the 160 MW installed capacity at
though single sources of renewable energy have low efficiency the same time as the previous energy sector status profile [26].
and are dependent on weather, the hybrid of these renewable The grid mix has also been diversified. Hydropower takes 45%
sources gives more efficiency and produces enough electricity of installed capacity, Methane gas 14%, Diesel & heavy fuel oil
to meet the electricity demand of the area [23, 24]. 27%, peat 7%, and solar 6% [25].
In Rwanda, there are several rivers from small-scale to large- A variety of government agencies are in charge of the Rwanda
scale, which can be used for electricity generation based on energy, market where the Ministry of Infrastructure is in charge
their size. However, most small-scale rivers in the country are of policy and enforcement, whereas Rwanda Utilities Regulatory
not gauged and time data handling is very weak, this leads to Authority (RURA) regulates the sector, and the Rwanda Energy
finding pertinent data very hard. Research and published arti- Group, through its subsidiaries, is responsible for implementa-
cles that are related to the title of this paper are very limited tion [27].
to find for Rwanda particularly on hybrids of renewable energy.
However, this paper will be relevant for further researches in the
area. 3 ELECTRIC ENERGY DEMAND OF
This paper deals with the design and optimization of a THE STUDY VILLAGE
micro-hydro and PV hybrid system with a storage system
that can be executed in one of the rural areas of Rwanda In this paper, a village called Wimana, which is found in
in the southern province, where most communities do not Mbuye Sector, Ruhango District, Southern Province of Rwanda,
have access to electricity. This kind of design is to ensure located at 2◦ 08’36.2“S latitude and 29◦ 48’45.6”E longitude was
that the hybrid energy source can still supply the load if the selected for the case study of the design of the off-grid hybrid
load side demand shows some increment in the future. A system. Due to the scattered placement and the low income
well-regulated voltage at the load can be found, but there is of the society in distant rural villages, the need for electricity
no guarantee of the reliability of the power supplied. There- is not as high as in urban areas. The need for electricity is for
fore, battery banks are extensively used to improve the reli- domestic use for appliances such as compact fluorescent lamps,
ability of the standalone hybrid system. HOMER Pro soft- cell-phones, TV’s, radios, refrigerators, DVD players, iron and
ware is used to accomplish the optimization analysis and design computers, in the community, such as in schools, community
configurations. halls, health posts, and small-scale industrial activities and rural
commercial such as small processing factories for cassava flour
and sorghum flour, cold storage, and cottage industries. Table 1
2 RWANDA ENERGY SECTOR STATUS represents the list of all connected loads to the system with their
unit power rating in Watt. All the necessary data and informa-
The installed electricity generation capacity in Rwanda is 218 tion was required to be collected and surveyed at the selected
MW of which 212.5 MW is generated and 5.5 MW is imported site.
BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL 3

14
12
10

LOAD DEMAND (KW)

8
6
4
2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
HOURS

FIGURE 1 The daily peak power demand of the village

TABLE 2 Daily energy demand of households, public and commercial
loads of the community
Community load type
Medium class households (15)
Low class households (121)
Shops (3)
School (1)
Church (1)
Flour mills (2)
Salon (3)
Total
In Figure 1, the daily estimated load demand for the village
is shown. According to the figure, the highest power demand
hours lie between 10 and 12 o’clock. Also, the total energy
demand of the village for each load type is shown in Table 2.
4 SOLAR AND MICRO-HYDRO
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT OF THE
VILLAGE
4.1 Solar resource assessment of the village
In Figure 2, the solar energy distribution in the country is shown
and the district Ruhango where the village is located is from the
high solar radiation location of the map.
The solar energy data collected shows the 22 years
monthly average solar resource of the village varies from
5.42 kWh/m2 /d in August and 4.76 kWh/m2 /d in Novem-
ber, which is the period of the dry season in Rwanda
even though the dry season starts in June [29]. The aver-
age solar radiation for the village is 5.067 kWh/m2 /d. The
clearance index and daily radiation from the village are obtained
from NASA surface meteorology at 2◦ 08’36.2“S latitude and
Daily energy 29◦ 48’45.6”E longitude. For a photovoltaic system to supply
consumption sustainable power, the daily radiation should be greater than
(kWh) 4 kWh/m2 /d. The solar resource profile (the clearness index
34.5 and the daily radiation) for Wimana village is shown in Figure 3
42.35 which was generated from the HOMER Pro input parameters
result.
18.765
As it is observed from Figure 3, August is the bright-
12.638
est month of the year, at which time solar energy resource
18.564 is 5.42 kWh/m2 /day, while in November it drops to
64.592 4.76 kWh/m2 /day. From August to November the daily radi-
2.223 ation reduces to 5.42, 5.32, 4.94, and 4.76 respectively, and from
180.994 February to May to 5.24, 5.16, 5.02, and 4.87, respectively. In
these months, the micro-hydro can compensate for the power
generation reduced from the PV during the dry season.
However, from May to July the daily radiation increases to
4.87, 5, and 5.31, respectively and from November–February to
4.76, 4.83, 4.93, and 5.24, respectively. In these months, the dis-
charge of the run-of-river decreases and the radiation increases,
when hydropower production is lower, there is expected to be
sufficient solar energy to make up for the loss in micro-hydro-
electricity.
Therefore, the maximum possible daily sunshine hour of the
site in August is calculated to be 12 sun hours using Equations
(1)–(3):
( )
284 + nd
𝛿 = 23.45 sin 360◦ (1)
365
𝜔s = cos−1 (− tan (∅ ) tan (𝛿 )) (2)
2
N = 𝜔 (3)
15 s
where δ is the solar declination angle (◦ ), nd is the day number
of the year starting on January 1st as 1, 𝜔s is the sunset/sunrise
angle is given by, N is the day length, the maximum possible
daily sunshine hour.
4 BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL
FIGURE 2 Global horizontal radiation of solar energy of Rwanda [28]
FIGURE 3 Solar resources of the selected village
4.2 Micro-hydro resource assessments of
the village
The run-of-river selected for the off-grid hybrid system design
in this paper is non-seasonal and not utilized for micro-hydro
electricity generation. The inhabitants living on the course of
this river use it for irrigation to grow rice and vegetables.
The daily average flow rate of the Ururumanza river for the
hydro resource data of 29 years was taken from Rwanda Water
Resource Board. The site gross head is measured at 1.7 meters.
The monthly average streamflow of its pictorial representation
is illustrated in Figure 4.
FIGURE 4 Monthly average streamflow of Ururumanza river
5 SYSTEM MODELLING AND DESIGN
OF THE HYBRID SYSTEM
5.1 Mathematical modelling and design of a
micro-hydropower system
In this design, the Archimedes screw turbine is used due to the
advantages over the other turbines by its uncomplicated design,
low maintenance, the capability to carry debris-laden water, and
cost [30, 31]. The turbine design and sizing are calculated as fol-
lows:
In this design, the number of blades considered for optimum
efficiency is N = 3.
The optimal parameters (Optimal radius ratio (𝜌∗ ), Optimal
pitch ratio (𝜆∗ ), Optimal volume-per-turn ratio (𝜆∗ v(N , 𝜌∗ , 𝜆∗ ))
and Optimal volume ratio (v(N , 𝜌∗ , 𝜆∗ )) corresponding to
BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL 5

TABLE 3 Optimal ratio parameters of Archimedes screw for various These external parameters are usually determined by the site
numbers of blades [32] of the screw and the materials available for its construction
Optimal [32]. In this paper, these three parameters are taken as fixed
Optimal Optimal volume-per-turn Optimal because they are directly subject to the site’s natural character-
radius pitch ratio volume ratio istics. The R0 determines the value of the nominal discharge
Number of ratio 𝝆∗ ratio 𝝀∗ 𝝀∗ v(N, 𝝆∗ , 𝝀∗ ) v(N, 𝝆∗ , 𝝀∗ )
rate of the screw turbine to be capable of carrying the site
blades N(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
discharge rate. Whereas, the K and L are found based on the
1 0.5358 0.1285 0.0361 0.2811 value of the head of the site using Equation (9). Since the
2 0.5369 0.1863 0.0512 0.2747 screw turbine needs to be operated at its highest efficiency,
3 0.5357 0.2217 0.0598 0.2697 the inclination of the turbine from the horizontal is fixed at
4 0.5353 0.2456 0.0655 0.2667 θ = 22◦ , K = tan(θ) [33].
Now, let’s calculate the optimal values of the inner cylinder
5 0.5352 0.2630 0.0696 0.2647
radius (Ri∗ ),Pitch of one blade (P ∗ ), The volume of water in
6 0.5353 0.2763 0.0727 0.2631
one cycle of the screw (VT∗ ), The volume of one bucket (Vb∗ )
7 0.5354 0.2869 0.0752 0.2619 using the following equations:
8 0.5354 0.2957 0.0771 0.2609
9 0.5356 0.3029 0.0788 0.2601 Ri∗ = 𝜌∗ Ro (4)
10 0.5356 0.3092 0.0802 0.2592
= 0.5357 ∗ 0.9 = 0.48213 m
11 0.5358 0.3145 0.0813 0.2586
2𝜋Ro ∗ (5)
12 0.5360 0.3193 0.0824 0.2580
P∗ = 𝜆
13 0.5360 0.3234 0.0833 0.2574 K
2 ∗ 𝜋 ∗ 0.9 ∗ 0.2217
14 0.5360 0.3270 0.0841 0.2571 = = 1.25 m
tan 22
15 0.5364 0.3303 0.0848 0.2567 (6)
2𝜋2 Ro3 ∗
16 0.5362 0.3333 0.0854 0.2562 VT∗= 𝜆 v (N , 𝜌 ∗ , 𝜆 ∗ )
K
17 0.5362 0.3364 0.0860 0.2556
2 ∗ 𝜋2 ∗ 0.93 ∗ 0.0598
18 0.5368 0.3380 0.0865 0.2559 = = 2.13 m3
tan 22
19 0.5364 0.3404 0.0870 0.2555
V
20 0.5365 0.3426 0.0874 0.2551 VB = T (7)
N
21 0.5370 0.3440 0.0878 0.2553
2.13
22 0.5365 0.3465 0.0882 0.2544 = = 0.71 m3
3
23 0.5369 0.3481 0.0885 0.2543
so, the flow rate is calculated by the equation as
24 0.5367 0.3500 0.0888 0.2538
n
25 0.5371 0.3507 .0.0891 0.2542 Qnom = NVB ∗ 1000
. . . . .
60
33.79 l
. . . . . = 3 ∗ 0.71 ∗ ∗ 1000 = 1205 = 1.205 m3 ∕s
60 s
. . . . . (8)
∞ 0.5394 0.3953 0.0977 0.2471 where
50 50
n = 2
= 2
= 33.79 rev∕s
D 3 1.8 3
N = 3 is given in Table 3:
and D is the diameter of the screw turbine.
𝜌∗ = 0.5357 The head is calculated using the equation found below:

𝜆∗ = 0.2217 H = L ∗ sin 𝜃 (9)

𝜆∗ v (N , 𝜌∗ , 𝜆∗ ) = 0.0598 where L is the length of the screw turbine

v (N , 𝜌∗ , 𝜆∗ ) = 0.2697
= 4.5 ∗ sin 22◦ = 1.7 m
We have considered the values of the external parame-
The efficiency of the shaft will be
ters as R0 = 0.9 m, K = tan(θ), θ = 22, L = 4.5 m,
where R0 is the radius of screw outer cylinder (m), K is the ( 2n + 1 ) ( 0.01125D 2
)
slope of screw (dimensionless), and L is the total length of 𝜂 = 1− (10)
screw (m). 2n + 2 Q
6 BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL

FIGURE 5 Designed model of the Archimedes screw turbine [34]

FIGURE 6 Compound gearing system [35]

where n is the rotation speed (rpm) and Q is the nominal flow

rate of the turbine
( ) ( )
2 ∗ (33.79 ) + 1 0.01125 ∗ 1.82
𝜂 = 1−
2 ∗ (33.79 ) + 2 1205 (11)
= 0.98

Hydraulic power developed, Pin = 𝜌 g Q Hn

Where 𝜌 is water-specific density (kg/m3 ), g is the gravity
acceleration constant (9.8 m/s2 ), FIGURE 7 Single-line equivalent circuit diagram of three-phase induction
Q is the water flow rate (m3 /s), and Hn is the net head (m). generator
In this paper, the head loss used to design the micro-hydro
system is 10%:
To find the rotation speed of the generator the following
Hn = Hgross ∗ hloss speed-teeth relationship is used.

Hence, S1 T1 = S2 T2

34T1 = 1530T2
Pin = 1000 ∗ 9.8 ∗ 1.205 ∗ 1.7 ∗ 0.9 = 17713.5 W (12)
T1
= 45 (14)
The power output of the shaft, Pout = 𝜂 ∗ Pin T2

where S1 is the rotation speed of the turbine, S2 is the rotation

= 0.98 ∗ 17, 713.5 kW = 17.36 kW
By using Equations (4)–(12), the resulting design of a three-
bladed Archimedes screw turbine’s height, screw length, and its
angle of inclination is depicted in Figure 5 that also represents
the fish-friendly advantage of the turbine.
5.2 Designing and sizing of gearbox
The rotation speed of the Archimedean screw turbine was
found to be 33.79 rpm and the shaft of the generator rotates
at 1550 rpm. To transfer the speed of the lower rotation speed
of the turbine to a higher one, we use drive gears. A gear ratio
is a direct measure of the ratio of the rotational speed of two or
more interlocking gears:
T1
Gear ratio =
T2
speed of the generator, T1 is the number of teeth on the turbine,
and T2 is the number of teeth on the generator.
According to Figure 6, generator gear with 12 teeth, common
axle linkage with 60 and 10 teeth, and turbine gear with 90 teeth
are used to calculate the total speeding up of the rotation of the
turbine speed. We identify the speeding up of each stage and
multiply each speeding up together as
Compound Speeding Up
= Speeding Up 1 × Speeding Up 2 × ⋯ × Speeding Up n (15)
60 90
= × = 45
12 10
Therefore, the speeding up ratio will be 1:45, that is, when the
turbine rotates one revolution the generator rotates 45 revolu-
tions. That implies for the 34 revolutions per minute the gener-
ator rotates 1530 revolutions per minute. The efficiency drop in
(13) the gearbox is assumed to be 10%.
BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL 7

The mechanical shaft power connected to the generator after The summation of magnetization impedance and the rotor
the gearbox is impedance (ZP ) is calculated as

Psha ft = 𝜂gb ∗ Pout 1

=
1
+
1
+
1
ZP R fe Xm Z2
= 0.9 ∗ 17.36 kW = 15.624 kW (16)
1 1 1 1
= + ◦
+
where ηgb is the efficiency of the gearbox. ZP 320 42∠90 7.6∠170.24◦
1
= 0.133∠ − 159.87◦ Ω
5.3 Designing and sizing of the generator ZP

ZP = 7.5∠159.87◦ Ω (20)
The parameters of the induction generator used in this paper
have been obtained from [36]. The induction machine used where Rfe is the core resistance and Xm is the magnetization
as an induction generator in this investigation is a three-phase reactance.
squirrel-cage 20 kW induction motor with specification on the The total impedance of the induction generator is repre-
nameplate: 4 poles, 400 V star connected, 20 kW, 50 Hz, and sented by Zin .
1500 rpm.
The parameters of the induction generator obtained are
Zin = (R1 + j X1 ) + ZP
R1 = 0.2 Ω, R2 = 0.15 Ω, R fe = 320 Ω, = (0.2 + j 1.2 ) + 7.5∠159.87◦
X1 = 1.2 Ω, X2 = 1.29 Ω, Xm = 42.0 Ω Zin = 7.99∠151.073◦ Ω (21)

Synchronous speed (Ns ) of the generator is given by where R1 is the terminal resistance and X1 is the terminal reac-
tance.
120 f
Ns = The line-neutral voltage of the Induction generator will be
P
120 ∗ 50 400∠0◦
= = 1500 rpm VL−N = √ = 230.94 V
4 3
120 ∗ 50 Therefore, the line-neutral current of the generator is
= = 1500 rpm (17)
4
VL−N
The difference between the synchronous speed of the IPh =
Zin
induction generator magnetic field, and the shaft rotating
speed is called slip denoted by S, which is measured in rpm or 230.94
IPh = = 28.9∠ − 151.073◦ A (22)
frequency. This slip of the induction generator from the syn- 7.99 ∠151.073◦
chronous speed can be calculated as
Hence, the total terminal power of the induction generator
N − Nr from three-phase quantities is given by
S = s
Ns
ST = 3VL−N IPh∗
1500 − 1530
= = −0.02 (18) ∗
1500 ST = 3 ∗ (230.94∠0◦ ) ∗ (28.9∠ − 144.18◦ )
where Nr is the shaft rotating speed (rev/m, rpm), Nr > Ns . ST = 20, 025∠151.073◦
From the equivalent single-line diagram of a three-phase
induction generator in Figure 7, the impedance of the rotor (Z2 ) ST = −17, 515 + j 9706 VA (23)
is determined by the following equation:
From the total power generated above, the real part signi-
R fies the real power produced by the induction generator and the
Z2 = 2 + j X2
S imaginary part represents the reactive power required from the
0.15 system for the generator to operate.
= + j 1.29 = 7.6∠170.24◦ Ω (19) Therefore, generated active power (P) = –17,515 W (nega-
−0.02
tive represents the power is delivered) and reactive power (Q) =
where R2 is the rotor resistance and X2 is the rotor reactance. 9706 VAR.
8 BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL

The power factor (PF) of the machine is calculated by Step 5: Calculating the total number of PV modules required

pf =
P
× 100% Total module = Ns ∗ N p
ST
17515 = 3 ∗ 5 = 15 (30)
= = 87.46% (24)
20025
The selected PV module has an area of 1956 × 991 mm2 =
This PF can be improved by introducing the same magnitude 1938396 mm2 = 1.94 m2 , the total area required by the PV array
of star-connected capacitor banks in the system. will be
The efficiency of the induction generator considered in this
paper is ηg = 0.95. The electrical power generated at the termi- Aarray = N ∗ A pv
nals of the generator is calculated below:
= 15 ∗ 1.94 m2 = 29.1 m2 (31)
Pele = 𝜂g ∗ Psha ft
= 0.95 ∗ 15.624 kW = 14.84 kW (25)

where ηg is the efficiency of the induction generator. 5.5 Battery sizing

Based on the simulation on HOMER Pro, the maximum power
5.4 Designing and sizing of solar PV supplied by the battery in one year is 6.42 kW for a one-
hour duration. So, the load energy covered by the battery is
To calculate the number of parallel strings considered (system 6.42 kWh.
voltage 120 V (Vsys)), (a string with four modules (Ns )), solar Therefore, the net capacity that the battery can store in
power rating 365 W (Pm ). Ah/day must be
Step1: Calculating the solar radiation
Peak sun hours (hours at 1 kW/m2 = kW/m2 /day) BCn =
ETot
The worst month peak sun hour is considered 4 h/day Vnom,batt
Step 2: Calculating installed power
6420 Wh

Load energy = Power × time

day 133.75 Ah
= = (32)
48VDC day
= 4.4 kW × 4 hours = 17.6 kWh (26)
The net capacity of the battery depends on the depth of dis-
Load charge (DOD) of the battery and taking the DOD = 40% deter-
PPV =
Efficiency mines the cycle of the battery.
17.6 The commercial capacity of the battery is calculated as
= kW∕day = 22 kWh∕day
0.8
BCn
22 kWh∕day BC =
Ppeak = = 5.5 kWp (27) DOD
4 hours∕day
133.75 334.375 Ah
Step 3: Calculating string length based on the module voltage, = = (33)
0.4 day
Vm (considering 39.3 V), and system voltage 120 V.
The battery must be at least three times bigger because
Vsys of considering cloudy days, shadows, and so forth on the
Ns =
Vm PV and the low flow rate of the run-of-river in the dry sea-
son [37]. Therefore, BC = 334.375 Ah/day * 3 = 1003.125
120
= = 3 modules (28) Ah/day. Hence, the capacity of the battery is taken as 1040
39.3
Ah/day. And, the maximum Ah rating of the selected bat-
Step 4: Calculating the number of strings (considering 365 tery is 260 Ah. To obtain the Ah required in the system, the
Wp PV module) number of batteries that should be connected in parallel is
calculated:
Ppeak
Np = BP =
BC
Pm × Ns BR
5.5 kW
= × 1000 = 5 modules (29) =
1000.3
= 3.85 batteries ∼ 4 batteries
365 × 3 260
(34)
BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL 9

Equation (35) is used to calculate the number of batteries to

be connected in series.

Vn,batt
BS =
Vbatt
48
= = 4 batteries (35)
12

where Vn,batt is the terminal voltage of the battery bank and Vbatt
is the voltage of a battery.
The total number of batteries required by the system is B p ∗
BS = 4 ∗ 4 = 16 batteries.

5.6 Charge controller sizing and specifying

The rating for solar charge controllers is against the amper-

age and voltage capacity. The sizing of the charge controller
depends on the configuration of the PV array and the output
current of a module that is delivered to the controller:

Solar charge controller rating

= ISC ∗ Total number of modules ∗ 1.3
= 9.74 ∗ 15 ∗ 1.3 = 189.93 A ∼ 190 A
FIGURE 8 Flow chart of power management for PV-micro hydro with
energy storage hybrid system (PPV , power generated by the PV; PB , battery
power; PH , power generated by the micro-hydro; PL , load power; PWP , power
(36) consumed by the water pump; SOC, state of charge; PG , power generated by
PV and/or micro-hydro)

5.7 Converter sizing and specifying

The maximum power discharged by the battery bank during

maximum load is 6.4 kW and the reverse power converted to
charge the battery bank is 8 kW. But the bidirectional converter
is designed based on the maximum power converted. Therefore,
the maximum power delivered from the direct current (DC)
bus is 8 kW from the battery and 4 kW from PV which equals
12 kW:

Converter size = Maximum Power FIGURE 9 HOMER Pro representation of the designed system

transferred ∗ 1.3 (oversize factor )

= 12 ∗ 1.3 ≈ 15 kW (37)
In this design of a hybrid PV-hydro system, load demand
growth for the next 10 years was forecasted. In this regard, an
inverter oversize factor was assumed 1.3 [37].
5.8 Flow chart algorithm of system power
management and control
Power management is an important task in a standalone hybrid
system to assure the reliability and security of the system for
proper utilization of energy without misuse, surplus production,
and shortage of power to meet the load demand [38]. Besides,
it helps for the smooth operation of components in the system
avoiding overload on a certain component during operation.
The controlling and the power management of the proposed
off-grid hybrid system of PV micro-hydro and storage system is
done using the flowchart shown in Figure 8.
From Figure 8, the primary power generators are the PV and
the micro-hydro. If there is a production of power from the PV
array, the load and the battery bank get power from the combi-
nation of the two sources. But if there is no PV power output,
the only primary source of power is the micro-hydro, integrated
with the stored energy to supply a sudden load increase. In con-
ditions where the battery is at full charge and there is excess
power generation, or the load is supplied at full capacity and if
there is still surplus power, the switch of the water pump sets
ON so that the water pump starts operation.
Figure 9 represents the power flow of each component of the
hybrid system connection that has a tendency to supply the load
demand of the site. The power flow in this system is bidirec-
tional from both buses across the converter.
10 BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL

FIGURE 10 Overall cost summary of the hybrid energy system

6 COST ANALYSIS OF THE HYBRID TABLE 4 Details of solar PV output information

SYSTEM Quantity Value Units Quantity Value Units

Rated capacity 4.40 kW Minimum output 0 kW

Based on the input given to HOMER Pro software, the resulting
initial, replacement and operation & maintenance costs for the Mean output 0.664 kW Maximum output 3.41 kW
equipment of the hybrid energy system are shown in Figure 10. Mean output 15.4 kWh/d PV penetration 8.54 %
Therefore, the total net present cost for the optimized power Capacity factor 16.1 % Hours of operation 4380 Hrs/yr
system was found to be $78,763.2. Operation and maintenance Total production 5,639 kWh/yr Levelized cost 0.0519 $/kWh
costs from most literature range from 2.5% to 4% of the total
project capital cost. For this study, the operation and mainte-
nance cost considered is 2.6%.
solar irradiation during this season, so the solar PV is generating
power at the maximum that is essential to the system.
7 SIMULATION RESULTS AND
DISCUSSIONS
7.2 Details of solar PV power output
HOMER Pro software was applied to show the optimiza-
tion of the system, the general cost analysis, and the system In Table 4 and Figure 12, the solar energy production for one
management. year is shown at a rated capacity of a 4 kW PV array with a
maximum output of 3.41 kW.
From Figure 13, the PV generates power from 6 to 18 o’clock
7.1 Time series detail analysis of the system especially the highest generation takes place at noon. But for five
energy production and consumption sunny hours from 10 to 15 O’clock, it generates 2.8 to 3.5 kW.
As generally seen, we observe that high solar radiation from
The power generation for all the energy resources, load flow January to February, and July to September. For the remaining
analysis, and their relationship including the battery bank is month, the intensity of solar radiation is slightly lower.
depicted in the following simulation result of Figure 11 for one
full year.
As clearly seen from Figure 11, during the period (July– 7.3 Details of micro-hydro output power
September) there was maximum charging and discharging of
the battery bank to meet its basic load demand and unmet load In this subtopic, the output power and characteristics of the
because of the reduction in power from micro-hydro as a result micro-hydropower are illustrated using Table 5 and Figure 14
of decreasing in flow rate. In addition to that, there is high from the simulation result.
BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL 11

FIGURE 11 Annual time series detail analysis of the system energy production and consumption

FIGURE 12 LONGi Solar LR6 – 72 PH power output

FIGURE 13 Solar PV power production

12 BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL

FIGURE 14 Monthly detail of output power for a micro-hydro system

TABLE 5 Details of micro-hydro output information TABLE 6 The detail output information of the storage system

Quantity Value Units Quantity Value Units Quantity Value Units Quantity Value Units

Capacity 20 kW Minimum output 9.94 kW Batteries 16 qty Average energy 0 $/kWh

cost
Mean output 13.9 kW Maximum output 15.0 kW
Capacity factor 125 % Hydro penetration 184 % Autonomy 3.97 h Energy in 1662 kWh/yr
Storage wear cost 0.184 $/kWh Energy out 1330 kWh/yr
Total 121,434 kWh/yr Hours of operation 8,760 Hrs/yr
production Nominal capacity 50.0 kWh Storage depletion 0.00669 kWh/yr
Levelized cost 0.0280 $/kWh
Usable nominal 30.0 kWh Losses 332 kWh/yr
capacity
Lifetime throughput 17,841 kWh Annual 1487 kWh/yr
throughput
In Figure 14, it is seen that power generation from July to
September is lower than the other months affected by the low
flow rate in the dry season. To overcome a shortage of power
during this period, solar PV and battery banks are designed and finally the red colour shows the system coming to its nor-
accordingly to carry out the demand unmet by the hydro. mal operating point.
Figure 15 has three different coloured regions that are used
to classify the period of output power variation in a year. The
first red colour covering from day 1 to day 180 represents the 7.4 Details of energy in and out of the
output power from micro-hydro at 15 kW, the green colour rep- battery bank
resents the 11.61 kW slow reduction in power generation, the
blue colour stands for the power output of the minimum power In Table 6, the output characteristics of the battery storage
generation from the micro-hydropower at the worst situation system are detailed from the simulation results obtained in

FIGURE 15 Micro-hydropower production details in a year

BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL
FIGURE 16 The battery bank state of charge and input power
FIGURE 17 The worst case of battery charge and discharge in 24 h
one year. The energy used from the battery bank in a year
is 1330 kWh/yr and the energy used to charge the storage
system is 1662 kWh/yr. The energy used for charging pur-
poses is greater than the energy supplied to the system, this is
because the battery bank takes an extended time to charge and
responds fast to meet peak demand. Slow charging is recom-
mended for lead-acid batteries to prolong the lifetime of the
storage by reducing the amount of flowing current through the
terminals.
From Figure 16, the storage system operated at high charging
and discharging rate from July to September. The worst scenario
in which the battery discharged maximum is on September 13,
reached 54.06% of the state of charge.
13
7.5 Battery status at the worst state of the
system
After running the system to understand the output power for
each component for one-year simulation, September 13 was
found to be the worst day for the lowest micro-hydro output
and maximum charging and discharging of the battery. There-
fore, the variation of the power from each component in 24 h is
analyzed to show the status of battery charging and discharging
using Figure 17 and Table 7.
From Figure 17 and Table 7, the battery is charging 0:00–
05:00 from the micro-hydro consuming power of 7.36 to
0.79 kW power demand that means the battery needs only
14 BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL

TABLE 7 Worst day of the state of power variation for each component in 24 h

Hours Load Hydro PV Battery Batterystatus Hours Load Hydro PV Battery Batterystatus

0:00 2.2 9.94 0 7.36 Charging 12:00 12.05 9.94 2.86 0.64 Charging
1:00 2.65 9.94 0 1.97 Charging 13:00 6.91 9.94 2.66 1.58 Charging
2:00 2.61 9.94 0 1.19 Charging 14:00 7.96 9.94 1.89 0.39 Charging
3:00 2.37 9.94 0 1.04 Charging 15:00 9.51 9.94 1.46 0.34 Charging
4:00 2.99 9.94 0 0.91 Charging 16:00 8.33 9.94 0.93 0.29 Charging
5:00 2.62 9.94 0 0.79 Charging 17:00 5.34 9.94 0.29 0.26 Charging
6:00 11.32 9.94 0.39 -1.06 Discharging 18:00 3.76 9.94 0 0.22 Charging
7:00 5.18 9.94 1.15 2.23 Charging 19:00 12.69 9.94 0 -2.89 Discharging
8:00 3.99 9.94 1.87 0.57 Charging 20:00 13.43 9.94 0 -3.67 Discharging
9:00 13.36 9.94 2.51 -1.08 Discharging 21:00 14.11 9.94 0 -4.39 Discharging
10:00 12.24 9.94 2.88 0.46 Charging 22:00 12.65 9.94 0 -2.84 Discharging
11:00 13.38 9.94 3.25 -0.36 Discharging 23:00 2.48 9.94 0 7.09 Charging

TABLE 8 Details of inverter and rectifier output power characteristics

Quantity Inverter Rectifier Units Quantity Inverter Rectifier Units

Capacity 15.0 15.0 kW Hours of operation 917 4325 h/yr

Mean output 0.221 0.142 kW Energy out 1935 1242 kWh/yr
Minimum output 0 0 kW Energy in 2037 1307 kWh/yr
Maximum output 8.10 8.40 kW Losses 102 65.4 kWh/yr
Capacity factor 1.47 0.945 %

0.79 kW to fully charge. At 06:00 the demand is high and the
battery is forced to discharge 1.06 kW for an hour and start
charging to the highest load demand. From 19:00 to 22:00 the
battery bank discharged 2.89, 3.67, 4.39, and 2.84 kW each hour.
The negative sign indicates the state of battery discharging and
positive for charging.
7.6 Details of converter output power
The bidirectional converter input and output power for the
inverter and rectifier are depicted in Table 8. The total oper-
ating time of the rectifier is greater than the total operating time
of the inverter. This phenomenon has a direct relationship with
the charging and discharging of the battery bank. As discussed
previously, the battery bank requires longer hours to charge than
to discharge. So, to charge the battery, the converter must work
as a rectifier device to convert AC power to DC. For this reason,
rectifier operating hours are longer in the one-year output data
of the system.
Based on Figure 18, there is a restless operation of the
inverter and rectifier at the time of the maximum operating
point of the battery bank. The coloured part in the figure shows
the operation of the converter either way of operation while any
dark region in the figure indicates the off-state of the converter.
That means there is no power conversion from either side of
the AC or DC system implicating that the load demand is com-
pletely carried out by the micro-hydropower.
7.7 Optimization results
Based on the input data entered to HOMER Pro for the selected
village called Wimana, several combinations of components of
PV, micro-hydro, converters, and batteries were obtained to
electrify the village from the off-grid optimization simulation
output.
From Table 9, the ultimate cost-effective system that is with
the lowest NPC of the system at $78,763 and the COE with
$0.0757/kWh is obtained from the set-up of solar PV, battery
Bank, micro-hydro, and converter set-up operating under cycle
charging strategy (the generator operates at its full capacity with
excess power to charge the battery bank). From the optimized
system, it is observed that 100% of the generated energy is from
renewable resources.
8 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF
THE SYSTEM
8.1 Archimedean screw turbine
In earlier days, the Archimedes screws were used as a pump
to lift water from a certain level to a higher level, especially in
sewage treatment plants [39]. In recent decades, Archimedean
screw turbines have become a new type of turbine technology,
particularly suitable under the head difference as low as 1–10m
BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL 15

FIGURE 18 Inverter and rectifier output power indication

TABLE 9 Categorized optimization result of the hybrid system

Architecture Cost

Net present Cost of

LR-72PH Hydro Converter cost energy Operating Initial System
(kW) Surr-260 (kW) (kW) Dispatch (NPC) ($) (COE) ($) cost ($/yr) capital ($) Ren Frac (%)

– 16 15.0 15.0 CC $74,153 $0.0713 $1976 $43,020 100

4.00 16 15.0 15.0 CC $78,763 $0.0757 $2016 $47,000 100

sites due to their high efficiency, low environmental impact, less
cost and maintenance [29–33].
Furthermore, with the rapid change of technology these days,
there is an environmental issue for saving fish and other biota
while using water as a source of energy [41]. An Archimedean
screw turbine does not hurt fishes and other aquatic habitats
[41].
As per the different laboratory experiments which have been
done that support these claims as compared to other turbines,
this new ultra-low head technology is still a niche product [40,
42]. The turbine selected in this design work is an Archimedean
screw turbine with a screw-shaped rotor/blade inserted on the
stator of a rapid pipe fitted with a flow guide on the inlet side
and nozzle on the outlet side so that the turbine can be mounted
at an elevation close to 22◦ .
This new emerging technology model is resistant to diversi-
fied waterfall levels and can be used in low flow velocity of large
debit, flood resistance, dirty water (except sand deposits), and
no loss of waterfall height. Infrastructure support for the instal-
lation of screw turbines is very simple and cheap [43].
8.2 System performance
The performance of the hybrid system is evaluated against
the load. The primary load of the village is found to be
180.99 kW/d, that is 6.7 kW average power demand and the
peak of the village including the system loss of 10%, random
variability of 2% and future load growth prediction of 11% is
18.56 kW. Hence, the designed hybrid system can supply the
load efficiently and the demand can be met by the hybrid power
plant with excess electricity of 47.6%. Some of this excess elec-
tricity is used to charge the battery bank during the night to
make sure that the battery bank can meet the increase in the
load demand at 6 AM. Most of the excess electricity, for the time
being, is delivered to a water pump, but in the future, the excess
electricity can cover the future energy demand of the village.
8.3 Electricity cost comparison with the
grid cost
The current Rwandan grid electricity tariff reviewed by Rwanda
Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) in January 2020 for res-
idential and no-residential electricity consumption is given in
Table 10.
The cost of energy determined in this paper was $0.0757
(71.95 RWF) for the standalone hybrid of PV and micro
hydropower with a storage system. The determined cost of
energy is compared to the cost of electricity of the Rwandan
grid and it is found the system cost is less than the cost of the
grid.
16
TABLE 10 Electricity tariff of the Rwandan grid [44]
Consumption (kWh) RWF/kWh (VAT
Category Block/month exclusive)
Residential [0–15] 89
[>15–50] 212
>50 249
Non-residential [0–100] 227
>100 255
9 CONCLUDING REMARKS
This paper is aimed to explore and design an off-grid hybrid
power generation system that includes PV arrays, micro-hydro
with battery banks, and power management for appropriate uti-
lization of produced power. The hybrid system is designed to
supply electricity to the village called Wimana located in the
southern province of Rwanda. The study area has an average
of 5.5 sun hours per day and 5.02 kWh/m2 /d of average radia-
tion solar energy at the site. The average flow rate of the Ururu-
manza river was found to be 1.896 m3 /s, but the designed value
was taken at 1.2 m3 /s because the flow rate of the run-of-river
throughout the year is not constant and that cannot generate
power at the same level. To overcome such difficulties, the base
flow rate that can be able to generate a constant power from a
smooth flow of water where the flow rate reaches its minimum
was considered in this design.
According to the load assessment inspected, the total elec-
tric demand of Wimana village was 18.56 kW. The consump-
tion of total energy of the village per day was 180.994 and
66,062.81kWh per year. To satisfy this demand, solar PV, micro-
hydro, and storage systems, 21% of 18.56 kW (4 kW), 89% of
18.56 kW (15 kW), and 16 batteries with 260 Ah each were con-
tributed respectively. To generate 4.4 kW from solar system 15
modules, 365 W panels having 72 PV cells, and 5.0 kwh/m2 /day
solar insolation were essential. For the micro-hydro to generate
15 kW, 1.2 m3 /s flow rate, 1.7 m head, 85% efficiency were
calculated. Archimedean screw turbine and three-phase asyn-
chronous generators were engaged.
HOMER Pro software analyzes the renewable energy
sources and cost estimation of the components applied in the
system. From an economic point of view, the hybrid system
for the village under study was cost-competitive with COE
0.0757$/kWh which is less than the current grid price of
Rwanda $0.222/kWh. Hence, the system is designed for the
peak demand of 18.56 kW.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge the support of the Africa Center
of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACE-
ESD).
ORCID
Mulugeta Gebrehiwot GebreMichael https://orcid.org/0000-
0002-6256-4907
BEDADI AND GEBREMICHAEL
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How to cite this article: Bedadi, L.A., GebreMichael,
M.G.: Design and optimization of off-grid hybrid
renewable power plant with storage system for rural area
in Rwanda. IET Renew. Power Gener. 1–17 (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1049/rpg2.12267