Study of the Economic and Environmental Effects of Photovoltaic Resources Location in the Electricity Network Using PSO (Particle Swarm Optimizers) Algorithm

Background: Currently, electricity producers are mainly concerned with finding solutions that make it possible to produce electricity with a low fuel cost and minimize toxic gas emissions into the atmosphere. Objective: This paper aims to demonstrate the economic and environmental impact of connecting photovoltaic plants on the electricity grid to reduce the cost of electricity production and the emissions of toxic gas into the atmosphere. Methods: The study was carried out under the MATLAB environment using the PSO algorithm (Particle Swarm Optimizers), which makes it possible to optimize the cost function and the gas emissions function in two cases: In the first case, the electricity network is considered without photovoltaic generation; and in the second case with the addition of photovoltaic generation. Results: After connecting the photovoltaic plant to the electricity network, we obtained a remarkable reduction in the cost of production and the quantity of emission of toxic gases. Conclusion: The economic and environmental impact of the photovoltaic plant on the electricity grid has been well demonstrated by applying the method of particle swarm optimization (PSO). We compared the results obtained before and after connecting the photovoltaic plant to the electricity grid; we obtained good results in terms of reduction in production costs and greenhouse gas emissions.