Integrated Solar PV-Battery and Micro-Hydro Based Low-Voltage Autonomous DC Microgrid for Rural Electrification

The decreasing cost and simplicity in deployment of Solar-Photovoltaic (SPV) system have led to its penetration extended to the highly remote/rural areas. The SPV systems possessing non-dispatchable characteristics are typically deployed in the form of a DC microgrid or an AC microgrid in such areas. For rural electrification, a low voltage DC microgrid with SPV source suitably integrated with local resources like wind or micro-hydro generation plant supported with energy storage becomes highly desirable to enhance the availability of power throughout the day. This paper presents implementation and control of an autonomous Integrated SPV-battery and Micro-hydro based DC microgrid (DC-MG) meeting the need of electrical energy in remote rural areas. This paper proposes the hierarchical power control which enhances the operational reliability and flexibility.