Energy, economic and environmental (3E) analyses of solar photovoltaic and fuel cell based hybrid energy system for a developing country: a worldwide approach to sustainable energy

The present study aims to introduce and check the feasibility of the solar photovoltaic-fuel cell hybrid system in a developing country. Hybrid system limitations such as: unreliability and environmentally unfriendliness have convinced the researchers to look for a better, reliable, efficient, and environmentally benign combination with solar photovoltaic and fuel cell, because it possesses required properties. The novelty of the current study is the investigation of electric utilization of photovoltaic and fuel cell hybrid model in urban, hot and humid cities of country. Additionally, energy, economic and environmental analyses have been done. The evaluation tool used in the present study is the system advisor model, while matrix laboratory is used for energy load design. The environmental analysis via expressed equations is based on system consumptions and emissions. The upshots show that from an energy, economic and environmental perspective, the solar photovoltaic-fuel cell system is a step towards contributing to the sustainable development goal 7 and 11 because 1.927 Gigagram/year of carbon dioxide emissions are being reduced due to hybrid system. The current hybrid system exhibits the levelized cost of electricity as 0.073 dollars/kWh, while the net present value of the system is 1.86 million dollars. Systems’ levelized cost of electricity is less than the tariff rate of the country. Specifically, the Paris Agreement article 9 gives huge significance to this research project in context of developed and underdeveloped countries. The research could lead to a scalable and replicable approach to sustainable energy uptake in underdeveloped nations, affecting global energy policies and cooperation.