Effects of weather and climate on renewable energy resources in a distributed generation system simulated in Visayas, Philippines

Abstract

Renewable energy resources prove to be a favorable alternative due to its environment friendly characteristics, and its dependency on different types of natural phenomenon such as solar radiation, wind, water, heat from the Earth's core, as well as other organic waste products. However, the behaviors of these renewable sources are subject the dynamism of the weather and climate. This natural occurrence may cause insufficient supply for customers and stakeholders. These conditions motivate us to operate a simulation tool that will relate the effects of weather and climate with various distributed generations such as solar panels, wind turbines, hydroelectric plants, and biomass power plants — concentrating on the islands of Visayas, which consists of Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas. This area has one of the most abundant variations of renewable energy resources in the Philippines. The gathered statistical meteorological data, which were gathered through different sources (MIDC: Solar Position Calculator, and World Weather Online) will be inputted in a software called HOMER. This will allow users to simulate different types of renewable energy resources in a span of one year. Output capacity, hub height and the like can also be selected to fit the user's desired simulation.