Diesel vs. Hybrid Isolated Generation: A Comparative Study for Social Electrification in Gracias a Dios, Honduras

The development of isolated communities largely depends on access to electricity; however, the implementation of conventional systems is often hindered by various factors that increase costs or render traditional methods impractical. This paper compares three electrification alternatives for rural areas: a diesel generator system, a hybrid system with solar panels, battery storage, and a diesel generator, and a solar panel system with battery storage. Using Homer Pro software, these systems were simulated for a village in Gracias a Dios, Honduras. The results indicate that the hybrid system has the lowest Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) at 0.43 kWh, compared to 0.46 kWh for the solar panel system and 0.78 kWh for the diesel generator. In terms of energy curtailment, the solar panel system has the highest value at 108,534 kWh, followed by the hybrid system at 28,260 kWh and the diesel generator at 11,280 kWh. The study concludes that the hybrid system offers an optimal balance between cost and efficiency, despite generating CO 2 emissions. Although the solar panel system does not emit CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>, it has a higher LCOE and greater energy curtailment, affecting its economic and technical viability for rural electrification under study