Optimal Design, Dynamic Modeling and Analysis of a Hybrid Power System for a Catamarans Boat in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a land of rivers, canals, and lakes where water transportation is an essential means of transport. The country use boats as one of the leading resources of a carrier in its widespread inland waterways. Most of the currently used boats use only diesel for fuel. Appropriate use of renewable energy sources, particularly solar energy with diesel generators, could reduce diesel consumption. In this paper, a typical boat energy requirement was calculated to be 42.10 kWh/day. A boat could be driven by a DC motor using electrical power generated using an onboard PV system, battery, and a small generator. The carrying capacity of the vessel is 20passenger for 8hours a day. The designed system consists of a 10.6 kW PV, 1.6kW rated small gas generator, onboard battery storage consists of 16 batteries, each placed 6V, 333 Ah, and a 48 V DC motor rated 5 kW 3000 rpm with a speed controller. The paper includes system design details and sizing using HOMER Pro and dynamic simulation using MATLAB Simulink