Novel approach for optimizing wind-PV hybrid system for RO desalination using differential evolution algorithm

Access to clean water is a basic human right, and reverse osmosis (RO) is a common method for producing potable water from seawater. However, the high energy demands of RO systems make them expensive to operate. Hybrid systems that combine renewable energy sources (RES), such as wind and photovoltaic (PV) systems, can reduce the energy costs associated with powering RO systems. In this paper, a novel approach that uses a differential evolution (DE) algorithm to optimize wind-PV hybrid systems for RO desalination is proposed. (DE) is a heuristic, population-based algorithm that searches for the global optimal solution. The approach aims to minimize the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and ensure that Desalinated water costs are within an appropriate range. The algorithm was used in a case study of the city of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, which faces significant water scarcity challenges. The results show that for an RO load demand of 1 kW, the optimized hybrid system's configuration includes a 26 PV panels with generation capacity of 7.67 kW, 2 wind turbines with 1 kW production capacity each and 9-battery storage system with 38.79 kWh storage capacity. The LCOE is 0.39 $/kWh for Dhahran city, and the cost of desalinated water falls between 1.98 and 2.16 $/m³, which is lower than the costs reported in the literature.