RMITRemote Area Power Supply Systems (MIET 2009)Renewable Energy System for an Autonomous HouseTeachers Name:Professor AliakbarAkbarzadehStudent Name:ZHANG XiaoStudent Number: S3175958SummaryThis report is about Remote Area Power Supply System. The word remote here does not necessarily refer to long distances from the existing electricity grid net work. In terms of power supply, any location for which the grid extension is not as economical as alternative options can be termed remote.There is no doubt that in most cases the electricity form of electric energy. It is least probable that the production of power and the generation of electricity in small scales such as powering a house, a farm, and even a small community could be done more cheaply than by using the grid. On the other hand, even a location which is not very far from the electricity grid might make the grid extension costs prohibitive. In these cases generation of power in remote areas becomes an attractive option.For example, for a house is 2km far from the grid and connection costs are estimated to be $25,000 per km, assuming a discount rate of 12% and inflation rate is 8%. If we consider the yearly electric energy consumption of this 4 people house to be 1277.5KWh, the real cost of electricity is the normal electricity cost (say 24 cents/kWh), therefore the grid extension translates into electric power at the cost of $1.18/kwh. It is with this high cost of electricity that the options of local power generation become attractive and economically viable.In my design, I use PV panel and petrol generator set to simplest this forms and reduce the cost of electric power. In these days, petrol generator sets are commercially available for remote area applications for a wide range of power. These machines are relatively inexpensive to install 1000$/kWh. If they operate at their rated power, the fuel cost would be in order of 1.2$/Liter. They generally have a life time of about 10,000 hours. But in most applications, the load is intermittent and the generator set operates at a more reduced level than its rated power. This reduces the life time of the machine andat same time decreases the efficiency of conversion. This problem has been largely overcome by add an energy storage to the power supply system. The most common type common type of energy storage system for remote area applications is batteries. In this case, everyday or every other day, the generator operates for a few hours at it is rated power and chargers the battery bank. Power is extracted from the battery system on demand.The output power of engine generators is usually alternating current; therefore it needs to be rectified, regulated and controlled for battery charging. Also, most electric applications in my design operate with 240V AC, 50HZ. Therefore the DC power obtainable from the batteries needs to be conditioned. This is done by inverters which convert DC into AC power at the desired voltage and frequency.It can be seen that the addition of a storage system to a petrol generator set requires extra components and extra costs. On the other hand, although initial capital investment increases, the overall cost of electric energy can be considerably decreased as a result of theefficientoperation of the generator set. It should be noted that need for less frequent operation of the engine results in longer life time, less maintenance, less noise and in general, more convenience.Generation of electricity by engine generators has a big disadvantage in that it relies on fuel as the main energy source. This total dependency of power generation on transported fuel, especially in remote areas, can be a source of inconvenience and extra costs. Locally available natural sources of energy can provide new options, so that the dependency on transported fuel can be decreased or even totally eliminated. Therefore, I add to PV panel into system, combines these two systems in my option.Solar radiation is another main source which can be effectively utilized for the production of power. Direct conversion of solar energy to electricity through solar cells was initially utilized for space applications, but now, there are infinite numbersof installations all around the world which utilize sunlight and produce power through photovoltaic systems. The photovoltaic module, which is the building block of photovoltaic energy systems is now, an off the shelf item. Each individual module can convert solar radiation into electricity with reasonable efficiency without and moving parts. The rated life time of PV modules is generally assumed to be 20 years. However the modules have exceeded this life period while operating in harsh environment. The voltage produced by PV modules is almost constant and does not significantly vary with the level of solar radiation. It should be noted that, in locations where there are large s