A review on the complementarity between grid-connected solar and wind power systems

Abstract Renewable energy has been used as an alternative solution to fossil fuels aiming to supply the increasing energy demand while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Solar and wind energy are prominent renewable energy sources, and many countries around the globe are investing in these sources, which makes their installed capacity to overgrow. Both sources present an inherent variable, partly complex and unpredictable nature what imposes challenges to national grid operators to determine the available amount of power at a given moment. The spread use of both solar and wind energy could engender a complementarity behavior reducing their inherent and variable characteristics what would improve predictability and operability of the electrical grid. The study of the combined use of wind and solar power is a fundamental aspect of large-scale grid integration. Therefore, the goal of this work is to make a critical review of the state-of-the-art approaches to understand and assess the complementarity between grid-connected solar and wind power systems through the analysis of different methodologies and locations. The literature survey revealed 41 papers that were analyzed in the manuscript. The combined use of wind and solar in many places results in a smoother power supply, which is crucial for the operability and safety of electrical grids worldwide.