Potential of Solar-Biomass-Based Hybrid Microgrid System in Indian Context

The energy demand is increasing worldwide, more specifically in developing countries like India, due to the rapid increase in population, urbanization, and economic growth. At the same time, the current fossil fuel-based conventional electricity generation system is unsuitable for providing power to remote villages due to the significant transmission losses and reduced operational reliability. Thus, developing a distributed power generation system based on renewable energy is the need of the hour. However, the major challenge for any renewable energy source is its uninterrupted availability for a given location. So, developing a micro-grid-based system based on two or more sources of renewable energy is the need of the hour to power the remote villages sustainably. The present study introduces a comprehensive, integrated solar-biomass-based hybrid microgrid system designed to fulfill the energy needs of a typical Indian village. The system incorporates a solar Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC), a downdraft biomass gasifier, and an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), with Toluene as the working fluid operating at an evaporator pressure range of 1.5–15 bar and a mass flow rate of 1 kg/s. Numerical simulations, conducted using Coolprop software in Python, analyze the system's performance under varying source temperatures (500–570 K) and a sink temperature of 393 K. The evaluation extends to different months, considering India's climatic conditions. Results indicate that the PTC and microgrid effectively meet the maximum energy demand. Finally, the Net Present Value (NPV) of the system is calculated.