Abstract
Renewable energy is considered one of the most promising strategies to reduce the use of fossil fuels in society. However, the initial cost is the concern that has been consistently identified as the main obstacle to market penetration of renewable energy systems. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the economic feasibility of the implementation of hybrid solar-wind energy plants on farms and ranches in South Texas. To carry out this study, four farms were selected in four different counties according to a set of criteria: distance to major cities, access to existing infrastructures including transmission lines and roads, available land, and wind and solar energy potentials in the area. One potential farm or ranch was selected from each county, and five different scenarios have been analyzed ranging from 100% wind to 100% solar for each selected farm or ranch. 100 MW was selected as the nameplate capacity of all the scenarios. HOMER Pro software was used to conduct the economic feasibility analysis. Net present cost, annual worth, present worth, return on investment, payback period, and levelized cost of energy were calculated and compared between different scenarios and different counties, which helped identify the best scenario for each county. The results also show the changes in the economic feasibility of developing large-scale hybrid solar-wind energy plants in different counties depending on the resources available in the area.
