A Hybrid Solar–Wind Renewable Energy System With MPPT

Abstract

Solar and wind generation are each constrained by the intermittency of their primary resource: photovoltaic output falls to zero at night and is depressed by cloud cover, while wind output varies with atmospheric conditions and is strongly site-dependent. Deployed independently, both therefore require either oversizing or substantial storage to meet a firm load. A hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) exploits the partial complementarity of the two resources, so that a shortfall in one may be offset by the other and the storage requirement is correspondingly reduced. This paper presents the architecture, simulation and prototype realisation of a hybrid solar–wind system. The existing single-source arrangement is first characterised: a wind chain comprising turbine, permanent-magnet synchronous generator, three-phase rectifier, boost converter and SPWM-controlled inverter with output filter, and a photovoltaic chain comprising array, boost converter and charge controller under PWM control. The proposed system combines both chains behind a common DC bus with maximum power point tracking, battery storage and a smart inverter interface. A MATLAB/Simulink model incorporating a utility point of connection, a solar array, a diesel generator, energy storage and a variable load was constructed, and its waveform outputs are reported. A laboratory prototype comprising a photovoltaic panel, a small wind turbine and the associated conversion electronics was assembled and operated. The results presented are qualitative and waveform-level: no numerical energy yield, efficiency figure or availability statistic was measured, and consequently none is reported. The limitations of the present evaluation and the measurements required to make it quantitative are stated explicitly.