Performance Analysis of a Hybrid Micro-Energy System for SA Data Centers

¹ Tshwane University of Technology, Department of Computer Systems Engineering, Pretoria, South Africa
² Durban University of Technology, Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Durban, South Africa

Abstract

The integration of hybridized renewable energy sources (RES) with AC/DC converters has become the focus of the 21st century for green Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications such as the data center. As the data traffic grows exponentially, the corresponding demand for energy to drive the growth becomes a great challenge and considering the environmental impact, a hybrid renewable energy system is favored for eco-sustainability and economic reasons. This is especially true for data centers which represent a dominant share of the total power in cellular networks. This paper evaluates the actual performance of a fuel cell in a renewable energy hybrid system considering the hybridization of photovoltaic (PV), Wind, Fuel Cell, and battery storage system with a choice of a half-grid mode. The reduction and the absence of available PV power by shading and rainy conditions will be easily reduced by the compensation of the other renewable sources. The modeling and simulations are performed using HOMER software. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed system as the energy supply is less intermittent and more stable.