LAUSR

Abstract Rural areas are usually remote from the main grid and hence rely on the standalone diesel generators for the electricity generation. Although such standalone power systems have a low initial investment cost, the high fuel cost due to the fuel transportation to these remote areas coupled with low loading of the generators contribute to high O&M cost in the long term. Therefore, photovoltaic systems (PV) and energy storage systems (ESS) are used to supplement the generator on the standalone power systems. A novel fuzzy-based control strategy is developed and compared against the existing load following and cycle charge strategies. This fuzzy-based control strategy is able to prolong the switch-off time of the generator, hence reducing the cost of electricity (COE) for the consumers. It can also be used to determine the optimum sizes of the generator, PV and ESS for the standalone power systems. The performance of the system is evaluated using Matlab/Simulink and results show that COE achieved by the fuzzy-based control strategy is lower than that of the load following and cycle charging strategies. Also, COE and CO2 emission reduction compared to that of the standalone generator system is 12.7% and 25% respectively.