Case Study: Small-Scale Hybrid Integrated Renewable Energy System (HI-RES): Emergency Mobile Backup Power Generation Station

Abstract

The concept of examining the feasibility of small-scale integrated hybrid renewable energy systems for mobile backup power generation has expanded greatly over the past decade. Increases in large scale power outages have become a common theme across America and other parts of the world as a result of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and other extreme environmental conditions. These outages often disrupt commerce, business, and the quality of life for many of the consumers impacted including loss of life and significant cost to the tax payers in mitigating the effects of these disruptions. In addition, increasingly hostile social climates and threats of war have exposed the need for more reliable small scale backup power plants (both renewable and non-renewable) integrated to rapid recovery systems. As greater emphasis is placed on reducing the green house effect and the emissions of pollutants into the environment, major technological advancements in renewable energy is driving innovative approaches to improving Energy Returned On Energy Invested (EROEI), thus enabling a stronger business case for renewable over strictly non-renewable power generation systems, including mobile backup hybrid renewable power generation capabilities.