A Novel Hybrid Micro Power Control Fed by Hydro/Solar Energy

Renewable energy sources have been widely disseminated around the world. However, due to weather fluctuations, energy storage systems are needed to supply the periods in which the renewable sources are absent. The reservoir of a hydroelectric plant is an example of energy storage that meets the demand even with climatic variations. However, in order to be able to use hydropower, an adequate land topology is necessary and the flooding of a large reservoir. The present work proposes a hybrid microgeneration composed of solar photovoltaic and hydropower in a parallel and complementary way. The daytime demand will be supplied by solar energy and the night time demand by stored water energy in a small adequate reservoir, and the grid will be the backup of the system. The methodologies used in the modeling, the system topology and the proposed control will be presented in this paper. This study highlights the feasibility of the proposal in some situations where there is no consumption or exchange of energy with the grid. The proposed topology can also be used as an off-grid system.