FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN, cilt.29, sa.3, ss.1600-1611, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
This paper presents an analysis of the technical and financial feasibility of an autonomous stand-alone renewable power system configuration for a medium-sized dairy farm. In this study, photovoltaic (PV) modules, wind turbines (WTs), and PV/WT power systems were analyzed to determine the optimal system. HOMER software was used for this assessment process, and viability was determined according to the net present cost (NPC) and levelized cost of energy (COE). The NPC and the COE were found to be $500,291 and 0.265 $/kWh, respectively. According to the optimization results, a PV/battery system with 264 kW of PV arrays, 202 battery units, and a 28.6-kW converter was the optimal power system for the dairy farm. For the optimized system, the initial costs and operating costs were $363,077 and $7447, respectively. In addition, the proposed system reduced the NPC by $43,602 and $165,359 compared with the PV/WT and WT power systems, respectively. Finally, the payback period was calculated to be 4.40 years, and the internal rate of return was 14.4%, meaning that this system appears economically feasible.