Design and development of an automatic control system for solar/wind hybrid generation systems

Abstract

A solar/wind hybrid generation system combines solar energy from solar panels and wind energy from wind turbines. A solar panel absorbs the sun rays and converts it to dc current while a wind turbine moves due to the force of the wind and its rotor connected to a dc generator produces dc power. This project proposes an automatic control system for the most commonly used solar/wind hybrid generation units having battery storage to supply the load. This project aims to construct an automatic control system for hybrid solar/wind generation in an isolated small network to allow power supply to a load from either wind, solar, a combination of both wind and solar or a battery unit. The coordination of these sources is done by a PIC microcontroller as the brain of the system and it outputs to relays that connect the desired energy source(s) to the load. The system was first simulated for the different scenarios that could happen in cases of one unit being out and others are in or vice versa. A prototype was then developed to depict the working of the system. The project objectives have been met using the software simulations and also from tests done on the developed prototype and the system operation is satisfactory as was intended to improve and ensure a more steady and continuous power supply for the loads.