Techno-Economic Assessment of PV Power Systems to Power a Drinking Water Treatment Plant for an On-Grid Small Rural Community

Fernando Amoroso, Rubén Hidalgo-León, Kevin Muñoz, Javier Urquizo, Pritpal Singh and Guillermo Soriano ()
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Fernando Amoroso: Centro de Energías Renovables y Alternativas (CERA), Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil EC90902, Ecuador
Rubén Hidalgo-León: Centro de Energías Renovables y Alternativas (CERA), Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil EC90902, Ecuador
Kevin Muñoz: Centro de Energías Renovables y Alternativas (CERA), Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil EC90902, Ecuador
Javier Urquizo: Computer Engineering Department, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
Pritpal Singh: Computer Engineering Department, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
Guillermo Soriano: Centro de Energías Renovables y Alternativas (CERA), Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil EC90902, Ecuador

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: This paper shows the technical–economic assessment of two power systems based on renewable electricity to cover the energy consumption requirements of a drinking water treatment plant in the town of Pile, Ecuador, with a planning horizon of 15 years. A stand-alone and a grid-connected solar PV system were proposed to power this plant, which was designed considering the maximum daily potable water supply condition. This plant operated under two scenarios: (1) 12 h during daylight hours and (2) 24 h. Both schedules were proposed to assess the impact of PV power systems on plant operation. We modeled and optimized a total of four scenarios, where each scenario consisted of one of the proposed PV power systems and the plant with one of its operating schedules. Homer Pro software was used to size and find an optimal solution in each scenario, considering the net present cost (NPC) as the main criterion for optimization. The results showed that the change in the plant operation schedule significantly influenced the parameters of each scenario, such as component sizing, electricity production, initial capital, NPC, and electricity purchase/sale capacity from the plant as a grid power service user to the electric utility company.

Keywords: power systems; PV systems; rural communities; techno-economic performance; drinking water (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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