Optimal Sizing and Design of a Photovoltaic-Wind-Fuel Cell Storage System Using Zebra Optimization Algorithm

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> An optimum design of Photovoltaic-wind turbine-fuel cell hybrid energy systems (HRES) linked to a stand-alone micro-grid to meet the energy requirements of industrial and residential buildings in the Egyptian city of Siwa with anew algorithm introduced in this paper. The main photovoltaic (PV) and wind turbine (WT) hybrid renewable energy systems (HRESs) provide an affordable means of distributing power in these areas and then there is surplus power, it is efficiently channeled towards the electrolyzer to produce hydrogen. When the generated power cannot provide sufficient power, stored hydrogen is furnished to a proton exchange membrane fuel cell which, smoothly and without interruption, supplies the load. Fuel cells serve as supplemental sources intended to balance out power fluctuations and provide a steady supply of electricity to the load. The Zebra algorithm (ZOA) is used to determine the hybrid system's ideal size and compare results with Cuckoo Search algorithm (CSA). To match the load of the site with high operational reliability, a fitness function is employed loss of power supply probability (LPSP). To have a high-performance, dependable system, the optimization problem's choice variables such as the quantity of PV arrays and WTs are optimized. Based on the findings, 150 FCs, 113 wind turbines, and 82 PV arrays make up the ideal HRES system. The optimization performance has been excellent, even when the unmet load is zero with lowest COE.