Optimal Design of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems in Lebanon

An optimization methodology is developed to size and operate a hybrid power system in Lebanon based on Single Step Dynamic Programming (SSDP) and Ordinal Optimization (OO). The system consists of four sources of energy: the unreliable utility supply of Electricité du Liban (EDL), a diesel generator, PV solar panels, and a battery bank for energy storage. System operation is simulated over one year using SSDP to deduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for a given set of source sizes. The OO approach offers an efficient methodology to evaluate alternative designs in order to select the best source sizes that minimize the LCOE of the system. As per OO theory, order is more robust than value, and thus the alternative designs will first be evaluated using a “simple model” that simulates system operation using SSDP over two typical winter and summer weeks to save computational time. The alternative designs are then sorted in an ascending order based on an estimated LCOE and the top-S designs are selected. Then the top-S designs are evaluated using an “accurate model” simulating system operation over a year, and the “optimum” design is identified with a high alignment probability. The model is tested to determine an “optimum” design of a hybrid power system for Qaraoun village, in the West Beqaa, given data on power consumption trends, available space and solar radiation.