Standalone diesel-photovoltaic system with batteries and supercapacitors as energy storage components for telecommunications

A standalone power system is not only a mix of different generator types and backup equipment. It requires high efficiency, individual equipment control that takes advantage of its maximum performance and a robust energy management strategy. This paper presents a standalone power system including a photovoltaic array as the main generator and various backup equipments (batteries, supercapacitors and a diesel generator), where their energy management is optimised according to their features. The battery balances the photovoltaic production while supplying the load demand whose operation is optimised with supercapacitors. To reduce fuel emissions, the diesel generator operates at the lowest fuel consumption speed and its slow dynamic is compensated by supercapacitors. © 2012 IEEE.