Potential of Small Size Hybrid Diesel-Photovoltaic to Improve Sub-District Supply Duration in East Sumba, Indonesia

This paper presents a preliminary techno-economic assessment of isolated mini off-grid power generation which involve locally available renewable energy resources in Ngadu Ngala sub-district, East Sumba, Indonesia. Currently, only 6 hours of supply available from diesel generator is available for the area, started from 6 PM until 12 PM. In this study, 10 years projection on domestic load demand is provided as the demand. The study is performed to prolong the supply duration from 6 hours to 24 hours daily. The analysis is mainly intended to find long-term optimum sizing of power generation system, which involve significant renewable energy penetration, with the least cost of energy. Based on the simulation performed by HOMER software for 24 hours supply, the most optimum sizing is a hybrid system which consists of 200 kWp Photovoltaic (PV) and 72 kW diesel generator, with energy cost of only US$ 0.281/kWh, which is quite cheap. Moreover, the penetration rate of PV is reached 51%.