Renewable Energy Systems for Isolated Residential Houses: A Case Study Favoring Wind Power

This study models different hybrid systems based on renewable energies that can be supported by diesel generators to meet the energy needs of isolated homes in the Canary Islands. The research will cover the energy requirements of a residential house, including the production of fresh water using a reverse osmosis desalination plant. The system is designed to operate independently of the electrical grid. The HOMER software package was used to model and optimize the hybrid systems. The model was fed with data on the electrical demands of residential homes (including the consumption by the small reverse osmosis desalination plant) as well as the technical specifications of the various devices and renewable energy sources, such as solar radiation and wind speed potentials. The software considers various configurations to optimize hybrid systems, selecting the most suitable one based on the available renewable energy sources at the selected location. The data used in the research were collected on the eastern islands of the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura). Based on the system input parameters, the simulation and optimization performed in HOMER, taking into account the lowest “Levelized Cost of Energy”, it can be concluded that the preferred hybrid renewable energy system for this region is a small wind turbine with a nominal power of 1.9 kW, eight batteries, and a small diesel generator with a nominal power of 1.0 kW. The knowledge from this research could be applied to other geographical areas of the world that have similar conditions, namely a shortage of water and plentiful renewable energy sources.