Electricity generation from hybrid PV-wind-bio-mass system for rural application in Brazil

Abstract: Electrification of households in rural area and isolated regions plays a significant impact on the balanced economic development. Brazil grows with a high population growth rate, but still parts of rural area and isolated regions do not have the accessibility of electric power. This study focuses on the feasibility study of a hybrid PV-wind-biomass power system for rural electrification at Nazaré Paulista in southeast Brazil. This study was performed by using the hybrid renewable energy system software HOMER. The wind and solar data was collected from Surface meteorology and Solar Energy-NASA, and the biomass data was collected and estimated from other previous studies. The result shows, the hybrid PV-wind-biomass renewable system can meet 1,601 kWh daily demands and 360 kW peak load of the selected rural area. The power system composed of 200 kW PV panels, 200 kW biomass generator, 400 battery banks, and 200 kW converter. All the calculations were performed by Homer and the selection were based on the Net Present Cost (NPC) and Levelized cost of energy (COE). Because of the fossil fuels’ negative impacts on human health and environment, all the energy sources for this system are renewable energies which have less pollution.