Comparing wind and photovoltaic stand-alone power systems used for the electrification of remote consumers

Wind power and photovoltaic driven stand-alone systems have turned into one of the most promising ways to handle the electrification requirements of numerous isolated consumers worldwide. In this context, the primary target of the present work is to estimate the appropriate dimensions of either a wind power or a photovoltaic stand-alone system that guarantees the energy autonomy of several typical remote consumers located in representative Greek territories. For all regions examined, long-term wind speed and solar radiation measurements as well as formal meteorological data are utilized. Accordingly, special emphasis is put on the detailed energy balance analysis of the proposed systems on an hourly basis, including also the battery bank depth of discharge time evolution. Finally, comparison is made between the wind and the solar based systems investigated, proving that in most Greek regions either a wind or photovoltaic driven stand-alone system is able to cover the electrification needs of remote consumers, at a moderate first installation cost, without any additional energy input. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.