An overview of Renewable Energy Utilization and Developments: Challenges and Opportunities Worldwide

Abstract

Renewable energy sources (RES) have become highly in demand due to the high increase in fuel prices (petrol and diesel), which has also significantly contributed to the high cost of maintenance of conventional power plants and the negative environmental impact of conventional power plants. Due to its eco-friendly and economic nature, RES has caught the minds of engineers, and it has been deployed in several developed countries to improve their economic growth and mitigate the instability of power supply. This paper provides an in-depth, comprehensive review of various renewable energy generation sources with a detailed explanation of the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the availability and capability of producing clean and sustainable power. Furthermore, the study reviews the integration of storage systems on the off-grid as a strategy to improve the sustainability of the power supply. The contribution of this paper is to review state of the art in different renewable energy sources. Results showed that renewable energy sources are usable and efficient, incorporated into microgrid systems, and accompanied by an energy storage system for suitability.