Design and the Operation Analysis of a Hybrid Solar Wind System for Sustainable Urban Energy

Sustainable urban energy is based on innovative solar and wind solutions. The paper presents such a hybrid solar–wind system, which is easy to place on building terraces, highlighting the advantages of this technical solution: energy production as close as possible to consumers, the elimination of system losses, and small installation spaces being required. The system operates well in the low-speed range for the horizontal axis crossflow wind turbine placed under a flexible solar panel, at speeds between 2 and 8 m/s, and exhibits good efficiency in cooling the photovoltaic panels. The prototype proposed by the paper is a small-scale model that can produce on average 400 Wh/day and about 150 kWh/year. The paper analyses numerically the aerodynamic behaviour of the prototype at several wind speeds, as well as experimental results regarding the power and power coefficient for the wind turbine, as well as the power and efficiency of the flexible solar panel in the hybrid system. The research is complemented with comparative technical analysis and economic analysis.