System level design and simulation of PV/diesel/battery hybrid power systems for portable classrooms

This paper discusses a system level design and simulation of a portable solar powered classroom for rural areas that are not connected to the national grid. This constitutes a serious handicap to support general public utilities such as lack of proper schools and usual daily utilities. The lack of schools in such areas has lead to a lower level of educational standard as compared to urban schools. These regions are often isolated and far away from any major cities and thus have limited educational resources. Often these areas lack proper teaching facilities, which in turn discourage students from seriously pursuing education. Coincidentally these areas are exposed to a large amount of solar energy over the course of a year. This paper focuses on the utilization of this captured solar energy transformed into electricity to serve all electrical devices that equip a portable solar classroom. The load profile for this classroom was selected based on the power requirements of an average classroom and basic educational technologies. A parametric study was done using software that specializes in simulating renewable energy solutions (HOMER). Various alternatives for the same load profile are compared and a cost analysis and comparison between alternatives is presented. The practicality of the project is evaluated and a suitable Hybrid power system is presented.