Different Scenarios for Reducing Carbon Emissions, Optimal Sizing, and Design of a Stand-Alone Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Irrigation Purposes

Abstract

Irrigation systems to supply water to agricultural land are essential in remote and isolated areas. However, these areas often face challenges and obstacles in obtaining energy for use in irrigation since many depend on diesel generators (DGs) to produce electricity. A farm located in a remote area in Al-Jafr, Jordan, uses a 100 kW DG to supply its need for electric energy for irrigation purposes. Its energy consumption is 500 kWh/day at $0.29/kWh. This paper designs a new hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) for this farm by conducting simulations using the HOMER (Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources) software. This new system consists of solar photovoltaics (PVs), batteries, an inverter, and a 100 kW DG. The results showed a clear difference between the baseline DG-only system and the hybrid system regarding energy cost and carbon emissions. The energy price for the HRES is $0.107/kWh, and carbon dioxide emissions are reduced to 27,378 kg/yr from 184,917 kg/yr for the DG-only system. In addition, simulations and comparisons for an alternative HRES with a 60 kW DG were conducted. Based on the simulation results, the energy price was $0.091 instead of $0.19, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were 15,847 kg/yr instead of 115,090 kg/yr. It was concluded that using hybrid renewable energy systems to power the irrigation of remote areas successfully reduced the energy cost, fuel consumption, emissions, and overall cost. The HOMER program makes an accurate comparison over extended periods between the four strategies (load following, cycle charging, combined dispatch, and predictive dispatch) and selects the optimal system based on the cost, emissions, fuel consumption, and percentage of renewable energy from the system.