Technical and Financial Assessment of Hybrid Renewable Solar Photovoltaic and Hydrogen Power System for Off-Grid Municipality in Sulu, Philippines
摘要
While a large percentage of the Philippine population enjoys the benefits of access to energy, there are still areas that do not have access to electricity, prompting efforts to improve the national electrification rate. Solar energy has been considered an excellent option due to its sustainability, off-grid capability, and cost-effectiveness. On the other hand, despite its novelty, the development of hydrogen power is gaining attention for its advantages as an energy carrier and storage system for renewable energy. This study proposed a hybrid system of solar and hydrogen for off-grid energy production in a municipality in the province of Sulu, Philippines. The technical and financial aspects of the study were evaluated using HOMER Pro and simulation results showed that the system’s capacity requires a 9064-kW solar photovoltaic, 2000-kW alkaline electrolyzer, 750-kW proton-exchange membrane fuel cell, and 1500-kg hydrogen tank with a net present cost amounting to 1.4B PHP and a levelized cost of energy of 33.01 PHP/kWh. Other feasible scenarios were presented, considering financial advantages and technical requirements satisfying the parameters of this study.