Abstract
The establishment of grid-connected prosumer communities to bridge the demand-supply gap in developing nations, especially in rural areas will assist to minimize the use of carbon enriched fossil fuels and the resulting economic pressure. In the promoted study, an economic and ecosystem-friendly hybrid energy model is proposed for grid-connected prosumer community of 147 houses in district Kotli, AJK. The grid search algorithm-based HOMER software is used to simulate and analyze the load demand and biomass sources-based onsite collected data through a survey for an optimal proposed design. The research objectives are to minimize the net present cost (USD) of design, the per unit cost of energy (USD/kWh), and the carbon emissions (kgs/year). A sensitivity analysis based on photovoltaic module lifetime is also performed. The simulations show that the per unit cost of energy is reduced from 0.1 USD/kWh to 0.001 USD/kWh for the annual energy demand (kWh/year) of the community. The number of carbon emissions is also minimized from 122056 kgs/year to 1628 kgs/year through the proposed optimal energy model.