Analysis of HCPV-LIB integrated hybrid system for renewable energy generation in Kuwait hot climate

In this work, a high concentrated photovoltaic system (HCPV) integrated with battery storage system is proposed to produce energy for different applications in hot harsh weather conditions of Kuwait. Integrated HCPV-battery storage units commonly deliver systems with higher energy density compared to systems with individual components due to less wiring as well as sharing usual electrodes and encapsulation. The principal motivation for employing HCPV for generating high energy is the significant improve in power output. In that case, large cell areas are replaced by more inexpensive optical concentrator resulting in a substantial reduction in system cost. Thermal and electrical models utilizing Kuwait weather conditions are developed to evaluate the performance of the different system components; HCPV module, battery, and converter. To examine the reliability and the advantages of the suggested system, its performance is compared to the corresponding system with individual components. The results of the developed models agree well with available experimental data. The errors in total root mean square of present outcomes are less than 2 %. Simulation results indicate that the temperature of the battery and converters significantly decreases by inserting an air gap of 6.5 cm thickness between HCPV module and the battery back. The maximum battery temperature does not exceed 41 °C under severe weather conditions which is lower than the maximum operation temperature recommended by battery manufacturer. The optimum capacity of HCPV generation and battery capacity are determined utilizing load of loss probability as a measure for comparison. The increase in the temperature of integrated HCPV-battery system results in extra power losses of about 2.7 % compared to normal solar HCPV system. Because of ambient temperature, the battery capacity decreases by 2.6 % after one year of operation. However, the high energy density of the integrated system because of common components compared to the normal HCPV system exceed the decrease in performance due to elevated module temperature.